Crossing Over
by TPfreak
Summary: Alanna is now a squire she and the others go to Canada where they meet very interesting characters. Even in this new world, can Alanna escape the evil plots that surround her Prince? Or even her own feelings for him? New plot, I think. Plz read.
1. Troubling Thoughts

Disclaimer:I don't own it! i swear! Don't you think you'd know who I am if I did!?  
  
I think I might pursue this, I'm just writing for the fun of it, it's my first fic so be nice plz. If you like review, if you don't like, review! Ok? Tu comprende? Buene, :D Like my Spanish? Or lack thereof. Lol, well, plz review and tell me what you think, I know it's kind of short but the next one is typed and way longer, I'm gonna wait a while to see if I get reviews for the first chap and then I'll post it. I don't know what to name this so if anyone has any snazzy ideas e-mail me at Tpfreak@hotmail.com or put it in a review, k? thx a lot peeps! Ciao!  
  
Karma*  
  
~**~ Troubling Thoughts  
  
Perfect. That was the exact word to use for this day. It was an autumn morning, the leaves of the numerous trees a blend of crimson, gold, yellow, brown and orange. The sky was bright and made the dew in the grass and on the leaves twinkle, resembling diamonds. This word also described the young woman walking down her laneway to her bus stop. It wasn't that she was extremely gorgeous in any way, or even particularly attractive, it was mostly the right word to describe how she felt.  
  
This girl was a shapely brunette, quite pleasing to the eye but nothing about her was distinguished enough to make someone look twice. Ryneka, this sapphire eyed schoolgirl was of average height, had normal hobbies and lived in the twentieth century, knowing nothing of the outside worlds. Ryneka read a lot of fiction, but of course, as a smart, levelheaded girl she didn't really believe the stories she read.  
  
Ryneka was a popular enough girl, with many friends both male and female, but she didn't have a special bond with any of them, she didn't have a best friend she'd known since kindergarten, so to speak. So she was very social, but didn't have any friends in which she confided.  
  
At that moment, as Ryneka got to the end of her laneway, as she peered up the street and glimpsed the yellow paint of the school bus, she thought; My life is perfect at this precise instant and no one can take it from me. But with that last bit of thought, the smile tracing her lips disappeared. No one can take it from me, but I have no one to share it with either. At that last second, as the bus screeched to a stop before her, the flash of wholeness, of rightness and of totality, vanished.  
  
~**~  
  
Somewhere, in a different world, in a different dimension, another young woman thought, Life is so dull here at the Palace! Me and the guys are in need of some fun, some adventure. It'd be great just to find, a new world to explore, with new people, and new customs, now that would be exciting! I can just imagine Jon totally at ease, pretending he wasn't the future King of a major realm, and Raoul not having to hide how much he hated Court functions, because there wouldn't be any! Alanna sighed contentedly, supporting her head with her hands as she thought about it, her lunch tray forgotten and still full in front of her. Yes, that would be great, just to get away for a while. But then again, there aren't any other worlds to explore, we already know all of these places. Discouraged by her thoughts, she sighed again, Gary, noticing for the first time that she hadn't eaten any of her lunch yet told her to "Hurry up and eat before the bell, you'll need your energy!" Alanna reluctantly obliged, thinking; It really is too bad there isn't any source of enterprise close at hand, I'm starting to think even Gary needs a break, he isn't as cheerful as usual. Little did she know.  
  
Hope you liked, It's kinda weird I know, but so what, it'll get better I promise! Alright, now do me a favor, there's a little button there V that says Go, press it and write me a little encouraging or helpful message ok? Yay! Thx! :D 


	2. Black Hole

Disclaimer: MWAHAHAHAA! It's MINE all mine! What are you gonna do? Sue me? *shrinks away from lawyer* ok i admit it, it's not mine!  
  
Hey peeps, last chap was short I know, this ones longer so hope you like, and keep reviewing! Btw I wanna thank Wild Knight and dragon defender for reviewing my last chap, and if you guys r still reading plz review again!  
  
Karma*  
  
~**~ Black Hole  
  
Later that day, Alanna, recently having evolved from pagehood (A/N:i made that word up, k?) to squiredom was now practicing her Gift with her knight- master, Sir Jonathan.  
  
As a young girl, Alanna had been terrified of her Gift, fearing that she would be unable to control it and that she might hurt someone with it. but since becoming a page, she had had many experiences in which she had been forced to use her magic to save her life. The redhead now used most of her spare time perfecting her skills with her Gift, especially now that she had suspicions against a man she had recently met, Duke Roger, Jonathan's cousin. Roger made Alanna very uneasy, he was a great sorcerer, the greatest of not only the realm but of there known world. So, to prepare herself for anything unpleasant that might come from this man, she made sure she knew every aspect of her magic.  
  
"Alan! Concentrate, you almost hit me with that fireball!" Cried Jonathan with indignation, brutally snapping Alanna back to reality.  
  
She grinned mischievously at her knight master, "I was concentrating!"  
  
"Do you mean to tell me that you were trying to hit me with that fireball Alan?" Jon looked at her with an even more mischievous grin.  
  
Alanna kept grinning, she knew he wouldn't give her away. "Yes, I am, Your Royal Hindy!" The purple eyed squire retorted in her most formal voice, bowing to hide the mirth on her face.  
  
Jon made a face of mock shock, "Why you insolent, impolite, incompetent guttersnipe!"  
  
A voice in their minds made them both laugh; Sorry Jonny boy but I think Alanna won that round. The voice chuckled. This voice emanated from a small black male kitten lounging on the windowsill. Alanna had acquired this new companion a few weeks back, a "gift" from the Mother Goddess herself. She had only recently learned he could talk to her with his thoughts and only those whom he wished could hear did.  
  
After spitting back and forth a while longer, Jonathan and Alanna got back to work at Alanna's request. Jonathan was a little worried Alanna might overwork herself so he accepted but only made his fire haired friend work a little before suggesting the end of the lesson with a bit of meditation. They both sat down comfortably, first Jon sat on a comfortable divan and waited for Alanna to settle down. As soon as he sat, Alanna immediately got to work finding the absolute most comfortable piece of furniture in the room, the bed. Jon chuckled at himself as the young woman took off her boots and sprawled herself upon the pillows and the comforter of the bed, closing her eyes. She looks like an angel, he thought. Wait, I can't let myself think that! He shook his head at his philippic.  
  
"Alright, I'm ready," declared Alanna.  
  
Jon nodded and cleared his throat, "Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, brea."  
  
In Alanna's mind, Jon's voice faded away but she kept the breathing rhythm, she fell back into herself and into her God blessed Gift. The purple radiance was like a great ball of energy. At first, she just stared at it, then started thinking, What would happen if I generated this energy and gave it a purpose, like say I wanted. a glass of wine! I could direct that thought into my magic/energy, and make it do whatever I wanted it to! Maybe. I did want an adventure for me and the others, why don't I try focusing on that? Alanna thought very hard about the kind of adventure she desired, then imagined those thoughts as a concrete thread that she wove into her magic in intricate patterns, over and over again into her ball of amethyst magic, the thing becoming more real with every stroke.  
  
After half an hour of meditating, Jon announced the end of the lesson, opening his eyes, he looked over the bed, fully expecting to see a refreshed Alanna sitting up, rubbing her eyes open. What he saw instead unnerved him, Alanna's complexion was pale and pasty, concentration lines etched onto her brow. Faithful was already by her side, his own magic attempting to penetrate the shield that had apparently materialized on it's own.  
  
"Can you do anything?" Jon asked, his voice permeated with concern for his friend and squire.  
  
No, I can't, but if I cannot it is only because the Goddess wishes it so, do not worry, Alanna will be fine.  
  
Partially reassured, Jon looked at his comrade's ashen face and waited for her to wake. It didn't take long, after approximately three minutes, Alanna started fidgeting then woke up completely. She looked around, confused, then remembered, she looked up into Jonathan's eyes, smiled a bit and said, "Did you miss me?" He smiled at her and nodded truthfully. She chuckled and sat up.  
  
"What happened?" Inquired the prince.  
  
"Huh? Oh nothing important, I'm not even sure if it worked," Alanna replied, getting off the bet on slightly tottering feet. Jon grabbed her elbow and helped her a little then let her go. She put her boots on, then looked again at Jon, he was deep in thought.  
  
"So you attempted a spell without asking me ,while in a meditative trance? Gods! How could you? you scared me half to death!" he whispered intensely, eyes serious. Alanna, walked up to him slowly then put her arms around his neck, pulled him close and hugged him tightly. First she felt him stiffen but she rubbed his back tenderly and he relaxed and hugged her back. "So what were you doing exactly?" He asked.  
  
She shrugged, "It wasn't really a spell and anyway it doesn't seem to have worked." Jon scowled at her and she knew he wanted the whole story, "Fine," she said, "I was trying to find an adventure for us and the others, I mean, the Palace has gotten so boring lately, we need something to do other than practicing our already admirable skills." She whined halfheartedly, hoping the sapphire eyed man wouldn't get mad at her.  
  
"So how did you try to do that? You can't use your gift to do that?" Jon was so preoccupied by what she had done, he didn't have time to be mad at her! Alanna almost celebrated.  
  
She grinned, "Well." She explained how she had thought to do it. " I don't really know what I was expecting as results but I don't see anything.Wait a minute! I've got it!" she whooped.  
  
"What? How?" Jon stuttered in his excitement, he agreed with Alanna wholeheartedly, the Palace was dull at this time of year.  
  
"I still have to unleash it! My gift and the threads of thought are still in me! I have to let them out so they can find what I'm asking for!" She cried and without hesitating for thought, looked at her Gift with her inner eye again before letting it go. The energy that filled the room instantaneously was almost tangible, the enormous amethyst orb that was Alanna's Gift floated toward a blank wall and lodged itself into it. then an enormous Hole began to spread, it wasn't just any hole, it was a whole through not only space, but time and dimension. Both youths gaped at the dilating hole and waited to see hat would happen, it finally stopped growing and was now large enough for two people to walk abreast. The two stared for another minute, then Alanna broke the ice, "Oops," she uttered before lapsing into unconsciousness.  
  
Faithful chuckled again, She'll never learn.  
  
You likey? *little voices scream: Oui oui! Nous l'aimons!* hehehe, you know what to do, the button's right there! You know you WAAAAAAAANNA! Lol, Ciao! 


	3. Ideas

Disclaimer: If you've seen it before, do you really believe it's mine? I didn't think so.  
  
Por el pess wado! Hehe don't ask, thank you sooooooooo much to everyone who reviewed and i hope you guys are still reading and will review again, thanks to googlepuss for all of her encouragement and the title idea. I still need more ideas to choose from, cuz i need more ways for this fic to go (hint hint) this chap is a little short but it was 1 in the morning, c'mon, cut me some slack!  
  
Thx again peeps, here's your chap! Karma  
  
~**~ Ideas  
  
There was a kind of thrumming against Alanna's eardrum, she winced a bit before realizing what it was, voices. She couldn't tell what they were saying but they were all men according to the bass nuances. As she awakened bit by bit, her eyelids lightened atop her eyes and the light of the room filtered through them. With that she groaned loudly in pain and scrunched her eyes tightly against the offending light.  
  
The ailed squire felt someone sit on the bed next to her, calling a name she couldn't understand. Something about the tones in that voice told her something.Jonathan. the thought leapt at her when a callused, male hand brushed a few strands of stray hair from her face affectionately.  
  
She blinked tentatively. Looking through the haze the light was creating in her eyes, she confirmed her guess about the owner of the gentle hand. Behind the young Prince stood her friends, Gareth of Naxen the Younger, Raoul of Goldenlake, her eyes slit suspiciously as her gaze fell upon the fourth face in the room, that of Alexander of Tirragen but they were all looking at her with such concern that she relaxed.  
  
"Did you miss me?" Alanna asked, grinning in spite of herself. Her eyes still hurt from the light of the room, at first she thought it was from her recent state of unconsciousness but soon realized Jon's bedroom was unnaturely luminous. Her ears had now fully recovered so she asked, "Why's it so bright in here?"  
  
There was a moment's pause as Alanna sat up and the concern in her friends' faces drained away. The black haired king-to-be was the first to speak, "I don't really know and Faithful won't speak to me so I was hoping you could tell me." He looked at her hopefully.  
  
Alanna smiled and got up off the bed, leaving Jon on his own. She picked up Faithful, draping the quickly growing kitten over her shoulders and walked up to the gaping hole in the wall across from her. It was totally black, as if it were sucking in all the light around it. or maybe the reverse. it all clicked in the amethyst eyed girl's head. "It's quite simple really, I'm surprised you didn't think of it yourself. The hole is made entirely out of magic." she paused for emphasis, "and lack of light!" She finished triumphantly.  
  
"What!?" Cried Raoul, taking a step forward.  
  
"Huh?" Sounded Gary confusedly at the same time.  
  
Alex made no sound but lifted an eyebrow at her quizzically.  
  
Jon waited a moment before demanding calmly, "Explain."  
  
"Certainly," replied Alanna airily. "My magic didn't really create a hole exactly, not physically anyway," seeing the confused looks of her companions, she explained more thoroughly. "This isn't a hole in the wall in which magic is put to transport whoever walks into it where it's supposed to, like any normal portal. It's a surface that is controlled by magic and repels light so as to create this portal of sorts to wherever whatever or whomever the Gifted one wishes, but hose cannot be changed or altered for they are set in before even activating the magic." she trailed off, hoping they understood at least partly. " Yeah."  
  
"So this repelling of light is what causes the rest of the room to be so illuminated." Jon used aloud as he pieced it all together.  
  
"Precisely," Alanna added curtly.  
  
Master will be pleased with this new bit of information. Thought Alex smugly.  
  
Gary had regained his wits and asked; "And what exactly are the wishes you set into this portal or whatever it is?" After Alanna had explained the trajectory of the portal, the companions started to decide which plan of action would be wisest to employ.  
  
"I think we should go ahead and do it!" Said Alanna and Jon simultaneously.  
  
"No! we should tell Father, he knows about the Gift and stuff like that, he could tell us if it's too dangerous," Gary replied immediately, always the cautious one. Alex nodded assent, trying to buy himself some time to tell the Duke.  
  
"No way! We can't have him nosing in our fun!" Gary glared at Raoul but the burly knight paid no heed. "We should prepare for any kind of danger and then hop right in there!" Raoul told them enthusiastically yet firmly. Alanna thought about it and agreed with Raoul, this could bring them anywhere, the edge of a cliff, the icy tip of an iceberg, anywhere!  
  
"Raoul's right, we should prepare for any eventualities, Gary can leave a note for his father telling him what we're doing and when we plan on coming back." Jonathan nodded to himself, it was a good plan.  
  
"Alright, " Gary assented reluctantly. His three friends beamed at him. Then all eyes turned to Alex, he frowned and nodded slowly. He could get his information to Roger when he was supposed to be getting prepared.  
  
"Good," Alanna said firmly. "Let's get started."  
  
How was it? Don't just stand there and think your answer! Tell me! There's a beautiful purple (on my screen anyway) button for you to press! Go on tell me what you think! Thx again to everyone who has already reviewed! :D Ciao! 


	4. Jump

Disclaimer: I don't own TP's stuff, duh! There's a copyright you know.  
  
Yay! I'm updating again! Guess what! Yesterday, I went white water rafting! That's a lot of Ws! Hehe, sorry, I'm a bit on a sugar high, teehee. Well, thx to my reviewer_ (notice the lack of plural there, hint hint) I hope anyone who read the last chap liked it even if they didn't review. I think this chap is a little longer and I finally decided to stick with Googlepusse's title suggestion, thx bud! I'm almost at the exciting part of the beginning of the story! Yay! Huzzah me! Lol, here's your chap, enjoy!  
  
Karma  
  
P.S. Just so everyone knows, there is a swear word in this chap so I'm boosting up the rating, also, there will be romance in future chaps so you better tell me your preferences, I think I have an idea of who I want to put together but it all depends on my reviewers! ~**~ Jump  
  
Dear Father, This message should reach you by nightfall, I and my friends: Alan of Trebond, Prince Jonathan, Raoul of Goldenlake and Alexander of Tirragen will be gone by then. Do not worry, we are safe, do not search for us for we are beyond your reach.  
  
Gary explained about he portal and how they were going through looking for adventure because the Palace was so dull. He ended his letter with a simple sentence before signing his name with a flourish: We have acted alone. This was a code between him and his father, this one meant they really had acted alone but if instead he had written, We are alone, it meant they had been kidnapped or something of the sort. It was a precaution they had taken not only because they were father and son but because they were both so close to the Royal family, if not by being in the line of Royal heritage but bonds of friendship and kin to the Conté family.  
  
Gary sealed his letter with a dab of wax and pressed his ring into it. Then found Stefan the Royal hostler. "Give this to my Father when he goes out for his weekly ride, tonight. Do not give it to him personally or he will punish you, put it in the hay in his horse's stall, somewhere where he will find it. or maybe when he gets here, pretend to be cleaning the stall and just happen to find the letter. I'm sure you'll think of something, you're one of George's cronies-friends!" He corrected himself hastily, looking around to see if anyone had heard, "after all!" He smiled companionably and clapped the rogue on the back, thanking him before leaving the stables to pack.  
  
~**~  
  
. it somehow repels light to make a portal to whomever, whatever or wherever the gifted one wants. Alex repeated Alan's earlier words in his letter to Duke Roger. He told of the boy's exhaustion after the spell, of the creation of the spell itself and the results. He told the evil wizard of his plan to join them so he could bring back a full report of what happened.  
  
The cat like boy sealed the letter and told the servant to deliver it after having banked the fire and making the bed. The man stuttered a protest about having other chores to tend to but Alex merely sneered at the hireling and repeated his previous order. Then he started packing.  
  
~**~  
  
The four knights and single squire communed in their Prince's chambers. They were all packed, they were ready for underwater, freezing cold, melting hot, circumstances. They had various weapons, food, water, clothes and lots of money.  
  
"Shouldn't we bring our horses? I mean what if we have a long way to go to food we desperately need or something?" Asked Raoul rationally.  
  
"No," Alanna answered flatly, "we'll be in the proximity of other people. It was one of my wishes to meet new people and learn new cultures," she told them.  
  
"Well then, are we ready for this?" Jon asked with a grin. The others nodded, Raoul with a look of curiosity, Gary of nervousness Alex of purposeful blankness laced with rock hard determination, and finally Alanna one of pure excitement and anticipation for what was to come. He looked them over and chuckled, they really were ready for anything.  
  
"Alright, I'm not sure if we have to go all at the same time, you know, so you're all with me but I don't think you do because when I put my thoughts in my magic, I also put all of you in so you should be able to get through even though I'm not with you. " Alanna informed them.  
  
"  
  
Pair up, the one who's alone will go second to make sure we don't lose anyone." Alanna ordered, she and Jon were instantly paired not only because they were knight master and squire but because they had the strongest-and only-Gifts. Gary and Raoul paired up because of their resembling body build, so they could protect the backs of the others. Alex was alone but he was content with that, I work better alone anyway, he thought to himself.  
  
Alanna and Jon stood before the black surface of the wall, Faithful sitting eagerly alert on the squire's left shoulder, tail around her neck for support. "Ready?" Jon asked his red headed friend. She nodded and exhaled loudly, her shoulders sagging, relaxing, then squaring with new determination, her eyebrows knitting together slightly.  
  
"Jump!" They cried together, then walked straight into the black expanse of the wall. Jon half expected to hit the hindrance but passed through it with nothing more than a chill up his spine and a second of darkness. When he and Alanna emerged on the other side, he didn't have time to look around because they were immediately hit from behind by Alex, stumbling out of nowhere into them. The quickly backed up as the imposing figures of Raoul and Gary also materialized magically before them. The portal was invisible on this side!  
  
Then they looked around themselves, they were standing near a road, obviously, and this one was paved, but it was different from the roads in Corus, they weren't paved with cobblestones, the street was seamless. Completely covered.  
  
Alanna looked up at the buildings that lined the route, they were not of wood or even of stone, they were of brick, these houses were evidently not those of nobles but they couldn't be those of commoners could they? They wee much too well adorned, each with it's own garden of flowers. This was what surprised Alanna the most, everyone in Tortall who could afford it had a garden but it was for the sole purpose of growing herbs and vegetables. Flowers were a great luxury, their upkeep affordable only by a King and his Royal family! Yet all these abodes had them! How could this be?! Then Alanna realized; Of course! Different cultures! I shall have to discover what this means!  
  
So enraptured was she in observing the houses, she stepped into the street, a few feet only. Well at least we're prepared for whatever may come our way! Alanna thought cheerfully. By then she heard a deep rumbling noise emanating from down the street, it was becoming increasingly loud. Faithful yowled and jumped off her shoulders as a great, metal, monster rolled amazingly fast towards her. The squire was so shocked she didn't move until Jon's shout of: "Alan! Move!" and the clonking sound the beast was making, jolted her out of her trauma induced state. But by then it was too late, even as she flung herself out of the way, the thing clipped her leg and she thought she heard it snap.  
  
Then a deep, melodic voice yelled after it: "Watch where you're going you bastard!" Then the young man looked at her and hurried over next he. "Are you hurt, do you need some help?" He asked swiftly and with a tone of worry.  
  
"No, I'm fine, I think I may have broken my leg but it's ok. What was that anyway?" She asked with a frown as her friends came running with their bags of gear. And I thought we were ready for anything! Alanna laughed inwardly at herself.  
  
You can never be ready for anything. Faithful answered with a chuckle.  
  
The boy answered her question with a look that said her question was ridiculous and a tone that said he was stating the obvious, but he was still friendly about it, just a little disconcerted. "A car."  
  
All right, to anyone who's got any questions about anything in this chapter, plz feel free to ask them in a review and thx again to dragon defender. By the way, I know, there's a language conflict, I already covered that in the next chap, which is already half written, so plz review and make me happy cuz, you know, you like making people happy right? Oh yeah! Also, I'm really sorry I misspelled Raoul's fief in the last chap, I'm so sorry! :D Ciao! 


	5. First Day

Disclaimer: I acknowledge that all legal claim to the characters other than Ryneka and Ayden, the places known as Tortall, Corus and the Palace is strictly Tamora Pierce's.  
  
Yay! Another long chap! Longer than the last too! Thx to my reviewers! Yay yay yay! Sorry, another sugar high, this chapter is a little different than I had expected ok? The language thing has been put off to next chap, but this chap is really descriptive, I know, BORING! But there always has to be at least one per story right? So the important stuff will probably be in the next chap and the romance won't start for another few, so tell me who you want to pair up now that you know everyone a little better (don't forget there's still Ryneka) all right, here's the chap.  
  
Karma  
  
~**~ First Day  
  
"A what?" Alanna asked but her friends surrounded her before he could answer, faces filled with worry.  
  
"Alan, are your alright? Did you hurt yourself? Do you need help getting up?" Asked Jon hurriedly.  
  
"I'm fine, Jon. I think I broke my leg but it's nothing I can't heal myself." The red head attempted to reassure the Prince.  
  
"Oh no you don't! you used up all your energy all ready today, I'm not letting you do it again until you've had rest and food." Jon retorted hotly, worried about his friend. The boy, watching quietly noticed how distressed raven haired man was about the boy, the two obviously weren't related and the man was much too young to have children that age. "Faithful agrees with me, don't you Faithful?" Jon growled at a black cat the stranger hadn't even noticed before, He's talking to cat? What kind of people are these? he thought. Then the cat nodded at Jon as if to tell the boy-Alan-He's right you know. The boy's eyebrows shot up on his forehead.  
  
"Well you seem to be fine and you don't look like you need to get to a hospital so if I'm no longer needed I'll just go." The young man said as quietly as possible, hoping no one would hear so he could get away unnoticed but Alan heard him.  
  
"No!" The red head cried to the surprise of her friends. "Sorry, but we're new here. we need someone to show us around. Could you help us?" Alanna got to her feet slowly. "Hello, I'm Alan," she told the boy, holding out a hand for him to shake. "Would you be willing to help me and my friends?"  
  
The stranger speculated, the boy who spoke most had a high voice, he hadn't been through puberty yet, it seemed, and he was fourteen or so. He was lean but not skinny and muscular, he looked at Alan's hands he noticed the callused fingertips. The barest hint of muscle could be seen in the boy. The stranger looked at Jon and the others, two of them were very robust and had huge profiles. The other lean figure seemed secretive and self regarding. The second youngest man, the one who was so fretful about Alan. Was a very handsome young man. He had black hair and. Sapphire eyes! He looked quickly at Alan who had. Amethyst eyes! Oh my God! That's crazy! They must be wearing contact lenses, but they look so real! He looked at their clothes, how odd, from his studies of Shakespeare in English class they looked like breeches, shirts overlapped by tunics and leather calf- high boots. They also had big bags in the lean boy's he thought he caught a glimpse of a snow shoe. Where are these people from? Wow, they really need help! And they're like, I dunno, popped right out of a fairytale.  
  
Alanna, a little disconcerted by the stranger's silence was growing uncomfortable with her hand outstretched toward him. When he looked at her face and his eyes widened considerably, she got worried and discouraged. As the boy remained silent and continued to stare a while longer, she bean to let her hand fall back top her side, preparing to thank him and start searching for help elsewhere, but he abruptly grabbed her hand in a firm grip and shook vigorously. "Hullo, I'm Ayden, and I'd be glad to help you guys out!" He told her cheerfully with a beaming smile. "I see you have a lot of stuff, why don't you bring it up my place?"  
  
"Sure, thanks a lot!" Alanna replied promptly and she and the others followed their new friend into his house. It was very neat. Everything had it's own spot. It was pretty hot in the house and Ayden apologized for the stuffiness and told them he didn't have "A.C." whatever that was but they all nodded politely at their host.  
  
"Here, I'll open a window to air out the place," Ayden offered, walking to some drapes that Alanna guessed were set up during the summer instead of shutters. But when Ayden parted them,. There was no gush of wind, and the young man kept walking towards the window. He took hold of a small handle and started turning it, the window steadily opened. They're glass windows! No one in has those in Toratll, not even the Palace has any! Alanna marveled as the other Tortallans stared. There was even a small grid that was meant to keep unwanted vermin out of the house.  
  
"Alright, I only have two guest rooms so you guys can choose who goes where, put your bags wherever in there and then we'll talk, cuz we obviously have a lot of talking to do!" He chuckled a little, showed them the two rooms and left to his they picked who had which. In his own experience, this decision could take a while but when he came back out of his room fifteen minutes later, they were all unpacked and now seated around his kitchen table, talking. The oversized kitten but undersized cat was seemingly sleeping on the open window's windowsill. The companions hadn't realized he'd come out of his room yet. He took advantage of that and listened to the argue.  
  
"I think we should tell him, he's an honest man and is evidently willing to help," Jon was saying, Alan, seated beside him nodded his agreement.  
  
"Not only that but he seems as interested in us as we-or I- are in him," Alan added. That was certainly true, he was interested in this strange group.  
  
"No! we can't tell him!" the lean boy exclaimed. This didn't surprise Ayden, the man appeared very secretive.  
  
"And why not?" Asked Jon and Alan at the same time, their voices melting together eerily, both of them frowning delicately.  
  
"I don't know, I just don't think we should." The boy had lost his confidence, this seemed to decide the other two.  
  
"You're right, we should tell him." Said the curly haired, sloe eyed man firmly, his companion nodding assent.  
  
They all turned their gazes to the opposing member, he nodded reluctantly, "I guess you're right," he told them softly. Alan grinned.  
  
Tell me what? Ayden thought as he started to back up slowly so he could come back making more noise to announce his arrival. But Alan spoke.  
  
"Didn't your mother ever teach you that eavesdropping is rude?" He asked.  
  
He'd been caught sneaking away again! The boy was good, he had to admit. "No, she didn't actually," he told the red head with a grin, but sobered quickly. "She didn't teach me much of anything really, she left me when I was two," he announced somberly. Wow I haven't been able to say that to anyone for the past eight years and now I just come out and tell these total strangers? Get a grip on yourself, Ayden! He reprimanded himself sternly. He knew, nonetheless that telling these people that bit of information had really lifted a intensely heavy weight from his already burdened shoulders.  
  
"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories, Ayden." Alan told him with a look of concern and sympathy. But not pity, he does not pity me, he grieves for my mother, not I. I already like this guy! Ayden thought to himself. He was about to tell his guest that it wasn't a problem when Alan hung his head and told him in an almost conspiratorial whisper, "My mother died giving birth to my brother and myself." Jon put a comforting hand on Alan's shoulder and squeezed. Ayden and Alan looked at each other for a moment then reached out simultaneously and clasped hands in a way only two people sharing the same sorrow could. When they let go, both sighed loudly and shook their heads slightly as if to clear it then smiled brightly as Ayden dumped himself into a chair.  
  
"So you have a twin then? What's his name?" He asked with a grin.  
  
"None of your business," he replied but grinned too.  
  
"alright then, what were you going to tell me anyway?" He asked seriously now, Alan and the others also became serious.  
  
"Better make yourself comfortable, it's a long story."  
  
~**~  
  
"Wow, that's pretty amazing!" Ayden said, running a hand through his thick, straight brown hair. The whole story was rather farfetched but he believed it all the same. Alan was a pretty cool kid too. He had made a poultice for his broken leg and to prove the fact that he had the Gift he had tried to use it on his leg but Jonathan refused to let him and did it himself. Ayden had been moderately impressed by the shimmering azure light of the Prince's magic, but only moderately, until he saw the bone pieces getting back into place and then being glued back together somewhat. When Jon left the room to go to what he thought was an amazing bathroom, Alan winked at him and he saw the amethyst magic seamlessly repairing the bon and then sewing the broken tendons and ripped sinew and finally the scraped skin. After another hour or so of their heated conversation, the purple eyed boy got up and didn't limp at all, or even flinch when he put all his weight on it. he grinned at Jon's wide eyes who then gave an exasperated sigh and threw up his hands as if in silent prayer to the heavens. Then he excused himself and followed his friends to bed. Now Ayden understood why he and Alan were so close, the whole, knight master/squire deal.  
  
He even got to her Faithful speak, albeit only a few words: He's a good fellow of sorts. the cat had said this in answer to Alan's query: "what do you think of Ayden?" Alan hadn't noticed he'd been listening but Faithful let him in on the answer. The boy was very proud he'd made the cat think positively of him.  
  
"Well," he told his young guest now, "here's what we'll do, we have to get you guys a flat." At Alan's look, he specified, "you can rent a place to stay." Alan nodded comprehension. "then you'll need new clothes and you have to get into school, I can do that, easy." He opened his mouth to continue but Alan cut him off.  
  
"Why do we have to go to school?" The boy asked.  
  
"Because it's the law, everyone has to go to school until they're nineteen, I graduate this year, fortunately for you, the school year only started today. It'll be a lot easier that way, I can't think of anything else."  
  
"Who makes these laws? Your King?" Alan wanted to know, more interested in this then in her problems.  
  
"No, it doesn't work that way anymore," he started.  
  
"Anymore?" the squire asked, perplexed. Sure, we used to work exactly the way you do except for the magic, those stories were just that, stories." Alan frowned slightly at the remark. "Now we have a government that is under the eye of the Queen if you wanna put it that way." Ayden continued thoughtfully.  
  
"The Queen? Not the King?"  
  
"Hmm? No, we don't have a King. "Ayden told her, not bothering to explain further, oddly, Alan smiled and looked very pleased with himself. "Anyway, the government makes the laws and like good, law abiding citizens, we follow them. So first thing first, I suppose back in Tortall you used to drink ale and stuff like that?" Ayden asked with a serious look, alcohol consummation was a critical thing for him, it was why his mother was gone.  
  
Alan nodded at him, "Since the age of twelve, why?"  
  
"Here you do not drink no matter how much you want to, neither does Jon, you hear?" Ayden looked a him with such a "father looking out for son" look that he nodded dumbly. "Good, here, underage drinking is a federal offense. And it's why my mom's gone," he told his friend softly. Alan nodded and patted him on the knee.  
  
"Feels good, eh?" Alan said with a glimmer in his eyes, Ayden nodded. They sat in silence for a while.  
  
Ayden spoke first, "Well, we know what we have to do, the only problem is money, I only have enough to get you guys into school, sorry."  
  
"Oh, don't worry about money, we brought lots of it" Alan told him brightly.  
  
"Really? That's great! Oh wait! What if it's not current money? Bring some over, I'll tell you what it's worth." Ayden offered.  
  
Alanna went into the guest room quietly so as to not wake Jon, sleeping on the bed, and came back with the smallest purse they had, containing at least fifty of both silver and gold nobles, they hadn't brought any coppers. She was glad they had met Ayden, today had been the first time she had spoken of her mother's death to anyone other than her brother or Jonathan. She hadn't even spoken about it to Faithful.  
  
She came back into the room and with a flick of her wrist, threw the purse at Ayden who weighed in his hand with raised eyebrows before dumping it's contents in front of him. When the coins spilled onto the table, his eyes widened and his jaw it the floor, so to speak, "Wow! This is what you guys use for money? Well, I suppose it's all you've got, considering you said a lot not a fortune. but still!" Ayden stared at the shining pile before him.  
  
Alanna sniggered at his ignorance, "Of course we have more, that's a normal man's purse. There's more where that came from, do you think it will be enough though?" She asked skeptically.  
  
"Certainly! Umm. how many loaves of bread would you get for one of these?" asked Ayden enthusiastically, holding up a silver noble.  
  
"I don't know, around seven or so, why?"  
  
Ayden beamed at her, "Well, if you sold just this one for current money, you'd get enough to buy almost thirty-five loaves!"  
  
"Really? That much? And would I get more for a gold noble?" Alanna asked, Ayden nodded, still smiling back. "This is great!"  
  
She picked up her money and said goodnight to Ayden with a hug, thanking him for everything before going to bed. When she walked into the guest room, Faithful following, she saw that Jon had moved from the bed onto a bedroll on the ground. The Prince slept in a sprawl, snoring lightly, his lips twitched into a smile. Alanna smiled affectionately down at him.  
  
Ayden, passing by her doorway stopped behind her, "Is a knight master really supposed to be so nice to his squire?" He asked then clapped her on the back before walking down the hallway to his own bedroom. Alanna looked after him, a little baffled and a little worried, did he know? He couldn't, she reassured herself. She shook her head and closed the bedroom door behind her, got undressed and began to put on a nightgown when she thought, I can't wear this! What if someone comes to wake me up! And I can't wear only breeches! She quickly ran down the hallway in her half unbuttoned shirt and unlaced breeches, she knocked on Ayden's bedroom door, thinking quickly. He opened the door, "What's up?" he asked, he had no shirt and was wearing plaid, baggy pants. Perfect.  
  
"Do you have a shirt and another pair of pants like that I can wear? I forgot my nightclothes," she asked him with a sheepish smile.  
  
"P. J. pants? Sure, gimme a sec." He disappeared into the darkness of his room, he came back a moment later with a shirt and pants for her, "Here you go, have a nice night!" He gave her another hug and closed the door.  
  
She stalked through the silent hallway to her room, changed in the dark and then slipped into the bed. It was quite comfortable with it's downy sheets. She sighed contentedly.  
  
"Goodnight, Faithful," she whispered to the dark.  
  
Goodnight Alanna, Faithful's voice resounded in her head.  
  
"Goodnight, Jon," she whispered to the seemingly sleeping form on the floor.  
  
"Sweet dreams, squire," Jon's voice answered. She chuckled, rolled over and just before falling asleep, thought, The adventure begins.  
  
Alright, I'm sorry there were so many point of view changes, I hope it wasn't too confusing. Plz review if you read this cuz I'm feeling kinda like everyone whose reading stops reading after two chaps! I need some criticism or something maybe some suggestions on where this fic should go, what are your views? Thx to everyone who reviewed last chap, and especially thank you to dragon defender for having reviewed every chapter so far. Alright, if you liked it, review, if you didn't, still review, ok? Thx a lot peeps! Bye!  
  
P.S. does anyone know if there are any guys on this site, cuz I have a friend who likes TP and would like to submit some stuff but he's afraid he'll be some kind of loner if there aren't any guys and none of the girls except me will read his stuff (he's gonna kill me when he sees I wrote this down but oh well) plz help me reassure him in your reviews! The button's right there V 


	6. Solutions

Disclaimer: I don't own it.  
  
Yay! I'm back! That power loss was a total bummer but now I have a new chap so I'm happy again. I'm going to Montreal tomorrow so there won't be another chap for a while, like three days or something. Anyway I want to thank miss_mags and Alex of the Westlands and Alcapacien/Quiggles for reviewing and helping me out. Here's the chap, there's a bit of fluff along the way, hope you likey. :D Ciao  
  
Karma  
  
~*~ Solutions  
  
The next morning, Alanna woke up totally refreshed. She got out of bed and noticed Jon wasn't on the floor anymore, she was a little puzzled then suddenly a cry of amazement rose from the throats of her four friends guided her to the kitchen. When she smelled the frying bacon, her nose tingled and her stomach grumbled so loudly Ayden heard it from the kitchen. He grinned at her when she walked into the room.  
  
"Hullo sleepyhead, how're ya feelin'?" He asked in fast paced speech.  
  
"Sleepyhead?" Alanna asked, confused. It couldn't be that late could it? "I'm fine, thank you. I slept very well." She continued with a smile.  
  
"Yes, sleepyhead," Jon turned to her, tearing his eyes away from whatever had captured the knights attention, preferring her humiliation to it. "It's the third candlemark after dawn!" Jon scoffed at her, voice riddled with amusement.  
  
"I slept that late? I broke my pattern? Wow! Those-I mean that," she amended quickly as Jon scowled, "healing must have taken more out of me than I thought. Well, no harm done I suppose."  
  
"That's right! Now how about some breakfast? Are you hungry?" Ayden asked with a grin, knowing the answer.  
  
"Ravenous! Starving! Famished! Voracious!"  
  
"I thought so, here you go, there's enough for everyone, I hope." The chestnut haired boy added, glancing in Raoul and Gary's direction.  
  
Alanna looked at all the food on the table, there wasn't as much variety as she was used to in the Mess Hall but she was so hungry she would have eaten anything dropped in front of her anyway. There was bacon on some strange paper in silver like plates, scrambled eggs in ceramic plates placed in front of each person, orange juice in glass glasses not dried clay or ceramic mugs. Everything was so different. She thought, At least the silverware is normal.  
  
Ayden, noticed that Alan wasn't eating but staring around the table, taking in the differences. The green eyed boy grinned and switched spots with Gary who had been sitting beside Alan and felt he wasn't close enough to the toast. Once he sat down comfortably, Alan looking at him with a raised eyebrow. He smiled and winked then pointed out the silver plates, "that's aluminum," he told his friend, Alanna nodded patiently. "It's a kind of metal," he explained. "And on top," he continued, reaching for the dish and dumping its contents into his and her plate, "is what we call a paper napkin, it's biodegradable-disposable-so we don't have to spend our time wasting good fabric on such small things, and you don't have to wash the either, it's a lot easier." He finished, chewing a piece of bacon.  
  
"How come you have so much glass? Are you rich? At the Palace, no one has glass, only the chapels and churches have it, you know, those designs of colored glass they put as windows. It's very beautiful." Alanna blushed at having let the comment slip through her lips.  
  
"Yes, it is," Ayden answered, surprising Alanna. "I'm surprised you noticed, or commented, I thought men from your time kept that stuff to yourselves."  
  
Jon chuckled, looking at Alanna and smiling mockingly, "Not this one! Oh no! Doesn't keep anything to himself!" He laughed a little louder and winked at her before turning back to his plate to devour his scrambled eggs.  
  
Alanna grinned at her knight master and shrugged, "I like to express my opinion." This time both Gary and Raoul laughed with Jon as Alanna glared playfully. Alex remained silent.  
  
"Anyway, no I am absolutely not rich. But I have lots of glass 'cause I prefer it to plastic." He lifted an empty fruit bowl made of a bizarre material and tapped on it gently with his fingernail, then passed it to Alanna for her to inspect to her hearts content. "And I have it in the window because that's how it is here in Canada." When Alanna glanced away from the bowl and at him he explained. "It's the name of my country, you know, like Tortall is yours and I live in the city called Ottawa, it's the capital of Canada like Corus is that of Tortall. The only difference is that my country is divided into provinces, because it's so big and all that other stuff, so the government can keep an eye on everyone. And, I live in Ontario. Only two countries are divided like this, ours and the U.S., U.S.A. really, but it's not divided in provinces, they're states, that's what U.S.A. stands for, United states of America." Ayden explained.  
  
"That's pretty complicated stuff," Raoul said.  
  
"Yeah, well it's not even the least of it, we have a lot of work to do, but first, I'd like to know, how come you guys speak English? I would have thought that since you guys are from an alternate dimension or whatever, you'd have a dissimilar language." Ayden wanted to know.  
  
"English? What's that?" Jon asked with raised eyebrows.  
  
"You know, the language we're speaking right now." Ayden told him, making signs for Jon to finish the thought with his hands.  
  
"We are?" Jon asked with a noise of disbelief.  
  
"Hmm." Alanna voiced thoughtfully, they all turned to her. "Well I did want to be able to communicate verbally, but I guess instead of being transported somewhere where Common is the main language, we learned the language of the place we went. Ayden, write something down on paper then pass it over," Alanna demanded. The young man did as he was told and passed the paper to the red head beside him. The foreign symbols before her formed words and then a sentence she could read even though she didn't recognize the lettering. It read, I You're pretty cool, Alan. She took the pen from Ayden and without thinking, wrote Thanks on the paper, to her surprise, it was in the strange lettering. She showed it to Ayden and asked, "Is this right?" He nodded and she took it back, then she thought, Tortall and wrote the word again, this time in Common. She was amazed, she shared her discovery with the others, they all tried it out.  
  
"So what other stuff do we not know that might be vital?" asked Raoul with a grin.  
  
"Ummm." Ayden looked around the room. "Well, electricity, obviously," he showed them everything there was to using it.  
  
These people really have advanced! The fact that they have no magic does not hold them back but propels their minds to greater things. Lack of magic in all increases creativity in all! Alanna thought, amazed.  
  
"I don't know if there's anything else," Ayden said, face adorned with a frown. He glanced around the room quickly, his eyes fell upon the top of his door frame of his room down the hall where he spotted. Christ on a brass cross. Of course! Why didn't I think of that sooner?!? Ayden thought. "Religion."  
  
"Religion? Well I suppose we might have different beliefs but is that really important?" Asked Jon. Alanna rolled her eyes at him, he had no sense of adventure!  
  
"Well, I don't guess it really matters, but tell me what it is anyway, to help choose which school you'll have to attend."  
  
"Well, we worship the god of the sun, Mithros, and the Great Mother Goddess and-" Alanna started, counting off the supreme beings on her fingers.  
  
"Okay, I already know you'll have to go to public school."  
  
"Why? That isn't what you believe?" Alex asked in a slight accusing voice, leaning forward in his chair and speaking for the first time.  
  
"I don't really have any exact beliefs, I don't belong to any single religion. But the most popular religion right now is Christianity." He explained about the God in this particular religion, about the son, Jesus and the Holy Spirit he tried not to let himself get into the details but it was a complicated set of beliefs.  
  
"when you say 'most popular' you mean there are other religions? I mean, I know Scanra and Carthaki must have different beliefs but the way you say it, you'd think there was more than one in the country!" Alex said, falling back into his chair with an air that said 'That would be absurd!'  
  
"Actually, there are, these religions are not spread only in the country but across the world, of course Christianity is the most widely spread, I think. But there is also the Jew, the Druid-though that's very minimal now- the Buddha, and lots of other religions spread throughout the world, but the thing is, all these religions uphold freewill, so everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want to believe, be it an exact religion or a mix of several. There are always misunderstandings but it's not so bad anymore." Ayden took a deep breath while the others stared at him blankly, then Alanna's face cleared.  
  
"Amazing," she said, letting out a long breath. "Absolutely remarkable."  
  
"Okay." Ayden answered, uncertain of what else to say.  
  
"Well, why do we have to attend public school? What other kinds are there? Aren't all schools accessible to anyone?" Asked Jon.  
  
"Public means you don't study religion, the other schools you could attend are Catholic, French but you don't speak French, or Private where it's mostly rich and really smart kids. I don't think you'd fit in there, the classes are much too complicated for you and I don't have that kind of money."  
  
"Alright." Jon said at a loss for words.  
  
"so what kinds of things do you learn at school? Obviously not etiquette!" Alanna chuckled. "And not to be a knight either."  
  
"Well, there's math-mathematics, "scowls turned to nods and smiles, "science, English, art if you want to-"  
  
"You have a choice? What's science?" Asked Alanna, intrigued.  
  
"Science is mostly chemistry and stuff, you won't understand most of it but just do what the teach says and you'll be fine," Ayden advised. "Yes, once you start ninth grade, you have a choice for a few of your classes. You can choose between drama, where you act stuff out and, you know, do plays and all that," they all made faces, why would they want to do that? "Or you can paint and draw and stuff, and do sculptures?" They shrugged, it could be alright. "Or you can play music, all sorts of instruments, you mostly probably never heard of them." Most of them shook their heads, it sounded boring. "And finally, you can dance." All the knights made retching noises before he could finish but the squire frowned at them and leaned forward in her chair, taking a sip of juice. It's odd, Alanna thought, usually I'm the one who hates dancing and they love it because of all the attention they get but here they won't get anything but criticism and I feel like trying something different. Ayden smiled at her, "It's not the kind of dance you're used to, it's stuff like hip hop, break dancing, all sorts of dances, I mean you still do a bit of waltzes and stuff but since you guys were born into it, think how much better than the others you'll be."  
  
The others decided to take Plastic arts but Alanna wanted to try the dancing, Jon just shook his head at her. From what she'd come to learn, most of the dances weren't with partners so it didn't matter if you were a boy or a girl, either way, it sounded like a fun, cultural experience.  
  
After an enriching half hour of dish washing and clearing the table, the companions spoke of what to do next.  
  
"Well, you need clothes, a place to stay 'cause you can't stay here forever, and you need to get into school."  
  
"So how are we going to do all that?" Jon wanted to know.  
  
"Well, first we have to get your money changed into current cash," he showed them a dollar he took out of his pocket. "Bu to do that, you need clothes, so you guys can wear some of mine. I hope." He glanced at Raoul's large frame. "I know I have something that would fit Jon or Alex, and some for Alan, it'll be baggy but it'll have to do. And I just might have something for you," he said pointedly, looking at Gary and Raoul.  
  
"Can I stay in this? It's pretty comfy," Alanna asked, having quickly picked up the way Ayden spoke because of both her young age and her longer exposure to the boy.  
  
"Yeah, I guess, it is in style but mostly with girls. Some guys wear it though so if you don't mind that, I don't either."  
  
Alanna grinned, "I don't mind at all." Jon grinned too. Ayden was a little confused but shrugged and grinned too.  
  
An hour later, Jon was very handsome in a tight black T-shirt and baggy jeans and even Alex was good looking in a pair of black knee-length shorts and a baggy white sleeveless shirt. Raoul and Gary both wore very loose pants that weren't all that loose on them and form fitting shirts. Ayden was very attractive in a tight bright green shirt and baggy black jeans.  
  
"Ugh, these 'boxers' are really uncomfortable!" Jon whined in his and Alanna's room while they all got dressed, and she adjusted his waist band. Alanna burst out laughing at him and tried to get away but he caught her arm and pulled her to him, fully intending to punch her playfully or wrestle with her a little. But he hesitated, his face was right in front of hers, he could feel the halting breath of her laughter on the bottom line of his jaw. Feeling the mood change, Alanna fell silent and looked up into his cerulean eyes. The two leaned toward each other, unthinking, but when their lips met, Alanna's senses jolted themselves into action, though not the way she wanted them to. All she could think about was the softness of his lips on hers, the quickening of her heartbeat, the fiery burning of passion wherever her skin touched his: his hand firmly gripping her arm, his other softly caressing her neck. Then she snapped, she pulled away from him gently, slowly, almost mournfully, looked at him, blushing fiercely. She mumbled an apology to his handsome, beautiful, attractive- Stop that! she reprimanded herself mentally-awestruck face and left the room as fast as was humanly possible, still red in the face.  
  
She found Faithful and stuck her face in his fur while he crooned mental soothing noises at her until she calmed down. By then, it was time to leave. She avoided Jon and stayed with Ayden as much as she could, he stayed behind, walking with Alex, both of them silent, Alex looking around him, Jon contemplating his shoes. It was just an accident. It won't happen again. Alanna attempted to reassure herself.  
  
Ayden took them to a pawn shop where they traded about half of their nobles into currency. They went to find an old friend of Ayden's who made them fake papers that stated that they were enrolled into the nearest public school and that they would start the next day, all they had to do was hand in the sheets at the front desk and they'd be fine. They went to the mall and got lots of clothes for themselves. Finally, they came back to Ayden's place and put their stuff in their packs then went to the house next door to Ayden's. the owners were trying to get someone to rent the house, it was a fairly low price but the neighborhood was known to be home of more than a few crooks. So when Jon made an offer it was accepted instantaneously and was told he and his friends could move in the next day. Alanna didn't go with them, not only because she was still avoiding Jon but because Ayden said they wouldn't get the flat if the owners thought a fourteen-year-old was moving in too.  
  
That night at supper, Gary pointed out, "That was a satisfying day but something's missing, I don't know what it is."  
  
"Oh yeah, one more thing, we're doing tonight, you guys are all getting haircuts," Ayden told them.  
  
"There's something else that was weird at the mall," Jon continued, having also picked up the new lingo during the day. "How come all the girls were wearing pants and shirts? It was quite pleasing to the eye," he glanced at Alanna who was feeding Faithful a sardine, "but it's still strange, why do they dress so?"  
  
Alanna was smiling, she had asked the same thing when they had entered the mall and the answer had lifted her spirits considerably for the rest of the day.  
  
Ayden sighed, "That's something I forgot to tell you guys 'cause I'm so used to it," he looked at each one of them in turn, "men and women are equal now." The men gasped but Jon made a quick recovery and grinned. "Women can go to school, they can become anything they want to be if they work hard enough. If you guys want to keep being my friends, I had better not catch you being condescending, mean, or demanding of any woman. Just because she isn't my mother or my sister or anything like that doesn't mean she doesn't deserve just as much respect, you got it?" Ayden looked at each man, except Alan, he knew Alan well enough to know he would never do something like that. They all nodded. "Good.  
  
"Another thing is, racism is absolutely not tolerated, I'm sure you noticed there are people with darker skin, you have no right to mock them. They are as much part of this community and perhaps more, as you and me." Once again, his guests all nodded.  
  
"Alright, let's get those haircuts." All done the chappy. Plz review, tell me what you think, what do you think is going to happen next? What is it you want to happen next? Just say hi, it'll make me happy! Lol, :D Now I get to go shoppin! Oooooh YES! 


	7. Gut Feelings

Disclaimer: We'll just say that from now on, every chapter I write, none of TP's stuff do I own, okie dokie?  
  
I'm back! Yay! I didn't really get to go shopping cuz most of the weekend was relinquished to my sister's soccer tournament, which was pretty dull. They lost every game. Oh well. I still cheered a lot and embarrassed my sister. This chap is not so good and it's a little short, sorry it took so long to post but I was pretty busy this week. Thx to Allison who is really helping me out and Alcapacien/Quiggles again of course, luv ya! And ? who reviewed. I hope you guys like this. :D Ciao  
  
Karma  
  
~**~ Gut Feelings  
  
"Today, you get to go to school!" Ayden told them at breakfast with fake cheerfulness.  
  
The night before, they had all gotten haircuts, even Ayden who now, to complete his tall dark and handsome figure had inch long hair that hung limp and teasing in his face. His dark green eyes were enhanced by what he called "contact lenses" and told Alanna and Jon to tell their classmates they wore them too. Amethyst and sapphire eyes weren't very common, here in Canada.  
  
Now, Raoul sported his curly hair in a more unruly fashion that made Alanna want to tug on a look just to watch it bounce back out of place. Gary's always tidy, slicked brown hair was now a 'buzz cut' and the macho look had been very attractive for some of the girls at the shop. Alex's hair was the same but a bit shorter. Alanna herself had the same cut as Ayden and she thought it suited her quite well, so did the girls in the store next to the barber shop.  
  
Finally, Alanna was impressed with Jon's thick, black hair, the stylist had cut it at around a half inch length and then spiked it up off his head with gel. The new look was very attractive and she obviously wasn't the only one who thought so; every group of girls who passed them would burst out in suppressed giggles and point at Jon with gleeful looks.  
  
Alanna stayed on her own as they got their haircuts instead of hanging with Ayden. Jon tried to get her attention a few times but when his attempts proved futile each time, he gave up and just looked at her every so often.  
  
Alanna had been very surprised when a girl had walked up behind her and tapped her shoulder. When she spun around, Alanna faced a thirteen or so year old girl with pin straight blonde hair, the girl smiled at her and let her finger trace Alanna's left biceps. "What's a guy like you doing walking around without a girlfriend?" The blonde asked with a seductive wink. The initial shock wore off and with a disgusted look, Alanna harrumphed and walked back to her friends. She was only thirteen! Alanna thought. Behind her, the blonde shrugged and walked towards another band of boys.  
  
That night Jon ended up on the floor again, he lied down without a word and just stared up at the ceiling as Alanna slipped under the crisp white sheets of the bed. She couldn't take it anymore, the silence was just too much. "Jon?" She asked tentatively, hoping he wouldn't be mad.  
  
"Yes?" He replied eagerly, propping himself up on an elbow and looking at her expectantly.  
  
She sighed with relief and smiled at him," I really like your hair," she told him then turned off the light and turned away from him. Jon just stored at her form in the dark then, pushing his fingers through his gelled hair, he grinned and fell back onto his bedroll with a thump and closed his eyes. He thanked the goddess for her mercy as he fell asleep.  
  
This morning, everyone was dressed, their hair was ready, they had their school supplies in their bags. Jon chuckled, "I feel like I'm ten again and I'm just about to start my page training, only thing is, I can't be arrogant because of the fact that I'm a prince here." The others laughed with him.  
  
Everyone ate a big breakfast except Alanna, who had an apple and some orange juice. When Jon offered her half a bagel she shook her head. "You know I'm not a breakfast person."  
  
Overhearing her comment, Ayden piped in, "You should eat, you never know what will happen in high school!" He grinned and turned back to his conversation with Gary. Alanna shook her head again and bit into her apple.  
  
After breakfast, Ayden called to them, "Alright, it's time to go, we gotta be at the bus stop in three minutes, let's move!"  
  
As they filed out the door Ayden held open for them, he exclaimed, "Whoa! Where do you think you're going?" He asked Faithful who was following Alanna through the door.  
  
To school, with Alan, of course. The cat answered simply if somewhat stiffly.  
  
"I don't think so! Animals are banned in public places, I don't mind if you tag along but you can't make it look like you have anything to do with us."  
  
Fine. The tom replied before streaking away down the street and disappearing. Ayden shook his head as he closed and locked the door.  
  
The bus ride was amazing and when they got to the school they found it was about the size of three royal stables put to together so it was a convenient size.  
  
~**~  
  
"Ryneka! You're wanted at the front desk!" A shout burst into Ryneka's thoughts.  
  
"What? Why!?" She asked her friend Kate who trotted up beside her and shrugged.  
  
"I think there are some new foreign exchange students coming an you have to show them around for the first few days! You are sooo lucky! You get to be out of almost every class for like, a week, and they might be really hot guys!" Kate told her excitedly, a huge smile plastered on her round face. She brushed a lock of her curly brown hair out of her big, brown, doe like eyes. Kate was a part of Ryneka's clique, she was nice enough but she was absolutely obsessed with guys and wasn't very caring of her grades in school, which Ryneka was. Of course, Ryneka always noticed boys but she didn't fawn over them for months without even knowing their names! Kate was a little too eccentric for her sometimes. They always had fun at the movies though.  
  
Kate was presently single and looking, she had broken up with her boyfriend only two days ago but she didn't mind, "There are plenty of other fish in the sea, right!?" She would say with a grin.  
  
Ryneka always waited a month after breaking up with a guy to go out with someone else, and only a weeks ago, she had left her former boyfriend, the captain of the basketball team and she was still waiting, though looking. She wanted someone who would make her feel loved and safe, secure in his arms. She had thought she had found that in Russell, her ex, but during their relationship, she had found there was something else she wanted, but she didn't know what.  
  
"I guess you better go now, Ryn, so see ya at lunch!" Kate said. Ryneka nodded and walked away with a wave to her friend.  
  
At the office, she picked up the schedules of the new guys and checked them over, all guys, one ninth grade and four eleventh. She walked out of the office and waited on a bench for the new students, confident she would spot them easily since she knew everyone in the school already.  
  
A voice hailed her, "Hey Ryn! You in charge of the newbies?" She glanced up from the schedules with a smile, she knew that rich voice, it belonged to Ayden. The boy was a good friend of hers, he made her laugh all the time, they hung out together but had never been on a date, they were just friends, Ryneka didn't mind though.  
  
She got up and met him with a hug, "Yup, how'd you know? By the way nice haircut," she told him, running her hands through his hair.  
  
"Thanks," he said, running his own hand through his hair in her wake. "You're always the one in charge of that stuff. Here they are!" He told her, moving aside to reveal the five boys behind him.  
  
"You know the newbies, they friends of yours?" She asked him, only glancing at them.  
  
"Yup, I only met them two days ago but they're cool. Especially this one," he told her, reaching for a small red head, catching him in a headlock and ruffling his hair. The red head cried out playfully and struggled out of Ayden's hold, punching him in the arm in the process. They both laughed and patted each other on the shoulder as the other four laughed too.  
  
"Well, any friend of Ayden's is a friend of mine. Welcome to Ottawa!" she told them with a chuckle directed at Ayden and the boy. He must be the ninth grader, he's so small! He's kinda cute, I guess, she thought.  
  
"Guy's, this is Ryneka, she's a good friend of mine, you show her respect!" He demanded, waggling a finger at them mock seriously, he laughed and turned to Ryneka, "Don't worry, they'll be nice," he said with a grin. "Be nice to them will ya! They aren't used to vicious women like you!" He joked. She stuck her tongue out with a grin and wrinkled her nose at him.  
  
"I promise, I'll be nice," she vowed, her head hanging down and her lower lip stuck out in a pout.  
  
"Good," he laughed. "See you guys have fun," he waved at the boys. "Bye, sweetie, and sorry 'bout Russell." He told her with a look of concern.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I'm fine! We weren't meant to be, that's all!" She assured him. She smiled, "Bye cupcake!"  
  
He laughed, "Okay, I believe you, bye!" He hugged her and as he walked away down the hall, they blew kisses at each other teasingly.  
  
She turned back to her charges. "Hey, I'm Ryneka and I'm gonna be showing you around for this week. You can call me Ryn if you like." She smiled at them.  
  
The red head came up first, "Hullo, Ryn, I'm Alan Trebond, nice to meet you." The boy held out his hand and Ryn took it. as soon as they touched, her head snapped up, Alan's eyes were purple! She noticed Alan was staring at her own eyes, she looked away quickly. There was something strange about this Alan.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Alan, by the way, nice contacts," Ryneka was absolutely positive the boy wasn't wearing any but said it to cover up her hesitation.  
  
"Yeah, I like yours too." the boy trailed off, still staring. Ryneka gave Alan his timetable and turned to the next boy, a dark, lean young man who reminded her of a cat.  
  
"Hello, I'm Alexander Tirragen but you can call me Alex," the boy held out a hand, she shook it and immediately wished she hadn't, his touch made her feel sick, a wave of distrust crashed upon the shore of her mind.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Alex," she mumbled, handing him his schedule.  
  
The next boy she liked upon sight, "Hi Ryn, I'm Raoul Goldenlake, I'm looking forward to the rest of this week." The boy was very friendly, he had tightly curled brown hair and coal black eyes. His friends rolled their eyes at his comment and shook their heads.  
  
She smiled and took his hand, shaking it warmly, "So am I Raoul." She gave him his timetable and he nodded gratefully.  
  
The next boy walked up to her with a serious expression. "Hello, I'm Jonathan Conté," he didn't extend his hand right away.  
  
"Conté? Is that French? I'm French, are you? Sorry, I always ask a lot of questions, one of my biggest faults," she shrugged. "Nobody's perfect."  
  
Jon's facial features softened, his spiky hair even seemed to go a little slack. "Nice to meet you, Ryn. You can call me Jon." He thought I'd be a snob because he was new! Oh well, can't blame him. She thought, most of her friends would only have been nice because this black haired, chisel jawed boy was very handsome.  
  
"Nice to meet you too, Jon." They shook hands, as soon as flesh touched, their free hands flew to their hearts and they gasped concurrently. Eyes wide, they stared into the depths of each other's sapphire eyes.  
  
When they let go, they spoke at the same time. "Nice contacts." They told each other understandingly. Ryn knew she could trust this boy, it was one of those gut feelings she always had when she met someone, like that Alex boy, she didn't trust him, he was bad news. Now that she thought of it though, she hadn't had any kind of feeling about Alan only some kind of strangeness, and a bond. Raoul wasn't surprising, she rarely got any "feelings" when she automatically liked someone. She gave Jon his schedule without a word and he just nodded in thanks.  
  
The last boy was a large young man with chestnut hair and eyes. His buzz cut didn't really appeal to her, she liked longer hair she could run her fingers through, but the look suited him well enough. He looked at her cheerfully and she liked him instantly. "Hey, I'm Gareth Naxen, call me Gary." He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling. He's hot! She thought fervently and eagerly grabbed his hand, not expecting to have a "feeling". When they touched though, an unexplainable heat ran through her, not unbearable heat but a pleasurable and exciting one, her stomach felt like it had dropped through her to the floor and her heart pounded in her ears. She'd never had that feeling before, what did it mean? What was so special about this Gary fellow other than his physical attractiveness?  
  
She took a deep breath and calmed herself, she let go of Gary's hand casually and handed him his timetable with a smile that he returned wholeheartedly. "Well let's get started!" She said and just before turning to them down the hall, her eyes flicked to Alan who was fiddling with a necklace a t his throat, frowning in thought, then she caught Jon's eye, he grinned at her and winked. He knew.  
  
Yay! Chappie over! I'm all done for today, if anyone has any ideas about where this should go, or where they want it to go plz e-mail me or review it to me. Thank you, I'm kind of coming up on some writers block, so I NEED HELP! Pwease! Don't leave us alone! We are afraid of loneliness it's the reason we are we not I! Whoa! Sugar high! Can you tell? Sorry this chap as so short and crappy, writers block, remember? Dance class is coming soon! Funfun! So help me out, whoever is reading my junk! I hope you aren't too disappointed in me, but if you are, tell me so in a review! *huge crowd cheers and applauds in background* by the way, I'm making this I want to know, do you like fics from TP about Alanna, Daine or Kel best? It's just them, no Sandry and Briar and Tris and Daja, k? so even if you have nothing to say about my chapter or my fic in general, review or e-mail me to tell me your answer. Thanks, faithful readers, you'll see this'll get interesting soon! :D Ciao! 


	8. Encounter

Disclaimer: I decided one more disclaimer never hurt nobody. I own nothing! Except Ayden, Ryneka, Emily, Kyla, Steph and Lindsey, actually, those four really own themselves but that's okie.  
  
Well, first thing i want to say is: SORRY I TOOK SO LONG TO POST! I really am, i was swarmed by hockey, school, friends, (and writers block too!), you know, life in general but im posting now, rn't u proud? ( anyway, thx to everyone who reviewed (i'll be putting the detailed thank yous at the end) yeah, so i've got another chappie lined up, well not exactly written or nething but itsa comin, dun worry it shouldna take more'n three days or so. Alright, that said, Enjoy the chappie, it's not as long as i'd have liked but that's okie! ( ^_^  
  
Karma  
  
~**~ Encounter  
  
The rest of the week went by uneventfuly, Alanna's classes proved more difficult then she had expected but she wasn't doing too bad for an "exchange student!" She was no longer avoiding Jon but they had not spoken of their little moment of intimacy.  
  
Her four friends were having much more trouble with their studies than her but Ayden was tutoring them a bit. "It's a good thing," he told Jon as he tutored the Prince math, "that you don't have science this semester!"  
  
Alanna was getting to know a lot of people in her classes although none of them were as interesting as the girl they had met on their first day, Ryneka. She tried talking about Ryn a lot, but every time she'd bring it up, Jon was in the room and changed the subject, and when he wasn't around, ayden was and he'd change the subject. She could tell Gary also wanted to talk about their guide but couldn't get a word in before his cousin.  
  
Alanna's most difficult class, surprisingly, was gym. The games were so new and demanded the use of such rusty muscles that she found it frustrating to play dodgeball. She wasn't used to being supposed to have fun.  
  
In contrast, she absolutely loved dance, it was so refreshing to see all these girls, so free to speak their minds and wear what they wanted, doing something she understood yet in a different way. She was learning lots of dances by name but right now they were working on hip hop. She adored it, the moves were different, crisp and not as complicated as waltzes and things like that. The best of all was that it didn't matter that she was a boy to these people, there were'nt any roles to uphold in these dances, she was free to be herself.  
  
In this class, she met two friends: Lindsey, a redheaded, energetic and quick-wittedd 14 year-old who really didn't want to be in this class but who's parents had forced her to be anyway. As well as Steph, a blonde, a smart one, she was assured quickly with a friendly smile. She had an ingenious metal contraption in her mouth called braces. It's too bad we can't do that at home, she thought of Tortall and shook her head, we just don't have what it takes, yet. She finished the thought with firmness.  
  
Lindsey was one of those "friends forever no matter what" friends. You could neverforget her. Steph was more sedate but no less everlasting. Lindsey was also in Alanna's English and Gym classes but they were often seperated in the latter due to Alanna's charade. Stephwas in her Gym class too and her Geography class, which proved useful because Staph was a perfectionnist and always knew the right, complete answers, fortunately, she was only too happy to share them.  
  
It was amazing to Alanna to find that there were a whole of 180 countries in the whole world! That was a lot compared to the 9 that she knew of in her own universe. And these people had boats that could cross the ocean in a few days? Amazing! When Ayden heard Alan comment about it to Raoul, he thought, It's a good thing he hasn't heard about planes yet!  
  
After that, there was Emily and Kyla, both in her homeroom, and all three of tem would make fun of the teacher, who, to Emily and Kyla was much too uptight, but to Alanna, she she was pretty laid back, when compared to the Mithran priests she was used to. Emily was a very charismatic, friendly, and humorous sharacter. Kyla had a more feminine air than most, she would wear skirts often while others wore jeans, she had long brown hair past her waist, Emily had chin-length chestnut hair. Kyla had a "China doll complexion", which Alanna didn't understand unti; she saw a picture of a china doll that looked like an exact replica of Kyla's face. The only problem was, Kyla was one of those girls who falls for guys really often and alanna was afraid Kyla might get a little enamoured with her 'other self".  
  
As fate would have it, Fridayu the 6th, Alanna ran into Ryneka for the first time without Jon around to impend the conversation.  
  
"Oh! Hey, Alan! Sorry 'bout that!" She exclaimed, bending down to pick up her fallen books.  
  
"'S'aright, was my fault anyway, wasn't looking where I was going." Alanna assured the girl, helping her with the books. Ryneka flashed her a friendly smile.  
  
"So, how's your first week been? Do you like it here?"  
  
"Yeah, it's lots of fun, very different though." Alanna told her truthfully.  
  
Ryneka chuckled. "And are you going to the dance next Friday? I know for a fact that there are quite a few girls who are hoping for an invitation from you or one of your friends!"  
  
"Really? Wow! I didn't even know there was a dance!"  
  
Ryneka laughed outright this time. "Well there is one and it would be great if you and your friends would come." She laughed again, it wasn't a mocking laugh and it wasn't cocky either, it was friendly, like she was laughing at a private joke between them but of course, Alanna didn't know what it was. She's pretty cool, Alanna thought, then she made up her mind.  
  
"Can I ask you a personal question? Two actually." Alanna asked the brunette.  
  
Ryneka put on a mock anguished expression, smiled then said, "Sounds serious, shoot." Her expression was serious now, a slight frown splayed across her features. Wow, thi girl is amazing! She actually wants to listen to what I have to say! alanna thought with surprise, she was used, in both worlds, to being told that she was being feminine or just being shunned when she tried to talk seriously with people. Ryneka hough, really wanted to hear what she had to say.  
  
"Well, this might sound stupid but, what's between you and Ayden? I mean, I figure you're not going out together but you're always calling each other names like "cupcake" and "seetie" and stuff like that, and Ayden is always talking about how sweet and friendly and beautiful you are so, like, what's that all about?" alanna rushed throught the question, barely breathing. She watched Ryneka as she spoke, as soon as her first sentence was out, Ryn's eyes widened, then as she elaborated, her facer shone with myriad emotions; hopeful, dreamy, surprise. when she finished, Ryn was silent for a minute then grinned, showing perfectly white and straight teeth.  
  
"Well, we've never gone out, but we've been friends for ages and we hang out a lot, do we look like we're going out?"  
  
"Well, yeah, kinda with the hugs and kisses all the time, and the way you two, well I don't know about you but the way Ayden talks about you and stuff like that."  
  
"Does he really say stuff like that?"  
  
"All the time!" Alanna told her, rlling her eyes with a grin. Noticing Ryn's once again hopeful face, she added, "So, when are you gonna ask him out?"  
  
"WHAT?!?" Ryn's eyes were the size of the moon and she almost walked into the wall.  
  
"C'mon, we both know you've got the hots for him!"  
  
Ryn blushed tremendously. "Is it that obvious?"  
  
"Yes! I'm pretty sure he likes you too so you have a good chance, I think the only thing holding him back right now is that it hasn't been that long since you broke up with that guy Ryan?" Ryn nodded. "And he doesn't want to pressure you," she finished.  
  
"Really? 'Cause I always wait a whole month after a break up with someone to go out again, you know, so the guy doesn't think he's rebound boy."  
  
"You and I both know Ayden won't think that, now I think, if you'd like to know," Ryn nodded vigorously: "help me!" Alanna chuckled. "You should ask Ayden to the dance, it's a sure thing and I know for a fact that he likes girls who make the first move, takes the pressure off, ya know?"  
  
Ryneka nodded vaguely. They walked in silence for a moment more. Then Ryn spoke, "Thanks a lot Alan, I've been in need of that kind of reassurance for a while and my friends aren't all that supportive. They're always saying I could do better and stuff like that." she trailed off.  
  
"How can you do better than good looking who loves and cares for you!" Alanna told the girl, tapping her cheerfully on the shoulder.  
  
Ryn grinned. "Totally!"  
  
They walked a liitle more. "So what was your second question?" She asked.  
  
"Ummmmm. well. What'sbetweenyouandJon?" She asked quickly, all in one breath.  
  
Ryneka'sface was a kaleidoscopic array of emotions: relif, surprise, perplexion, uneasiness, perplexion again and finally a seemingly nonchalant air. "this seems like it might be a pretty big issue for you, would you like to sit down and talk?" Alanna nodded gratefully and they made their way to a bench in the Atrium. Ryn started uncomfortably, "Ummmmm. don't take this the wrong way but." Alanna prodded with a look. "Umm.are you homosexual?"(A/N:Should I stop here? nah, I'm not that mean! ()  
  
There was a confused silence for a minute then Alanna started laughing, then Ryn joinedin and they were soon slapping their thighs and half falling off the bench.  
  
"Hehe, . Oh dear, oh no, no, no." alanna giggled, wiping a tear from her eye and shaking her head. "Oh dear me no! haha, .hooohoohoo! Ahhhhhh, that's great!"  
  
"Sorry. I just thought maybe, oh dear.hehe, ahah.!" Ryn went on.  
  
"Well now that you know," Alanna asked, falling serious again.  
  
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not really sure what's between us," Ryn got a vague look again as she thought of it. she went on to explain her situation, the "feelings" she always got, the one she got for Jon, not knowing what it meant, her growing confusion.  
  
"Really? You've always had these? that's. Interesting.so what 'feelings' did you get for the rest of us?" alanna asked, fingering her necklace.  
  
"Well. To tell you the truth, I didn't really get one from you, like something was stopping me from getting it" Alanna nodded. "Raoul I didn't get either cuz I really liked him as soon as I saw him, so I didn't get one, then there's Gary." ryneka shifted her weight restlessly on the bench, not looking Alanna in the eye. Why did I even tell him anything? I promised myself I wouldn'ttell anyone and now I tell this boy I've known personally for like ten minutes and just pour my heart out? Get a grip! But I do feel better for having said something and it's great that he actually listened, he even seems genuinely interested, maybe he can help me out with the whole Gary situation. God! My stomach flops everytime his name is mentioned! Nevermind what happens when I see him or talk to him! I guess maybe I should. She looked at Alan and looked away quickly, he was so innocent, so perfect! Then, she felt his hand on her back and it was just too much.  
  
Meanwhile, Alanna was thinking too; I wonder what these "feelings" of hers are. And what did she get from Gary if she's acting like this about it? I wonder what it means that Jonm knows, interesting. Maybe I should go to the dance, it might be fun. She looked over at Ryneka who seemed kind of lost, hoping to be helpful, she awkwardly put her hand on the girl's back and rubbed it gently in circles. Ryneka looked at her with wide eyes, then suddenly she looked away and Alanna could feel Ryn's shoulders shaking with silent sobs. Instinctively, Alanna gathered the girl in her arms and made soothing noises, pating her back and smoothing her hair out of her face.  
  
Ryneka spoke when her tears were quelled a little. "I just don't know what to do, Alan. Should I tell him? Or shouldn't I? And what about Jon, huh? And Ayden?!?" The girl was shaking madly now. Alanna made up her mind, there was a flash of purple light and Ryneka sat up straight, she remembered everything before her breakdown, nothing else.  
  
"Well, I'd better get going soon, but I was thinking, you should come over for supper tonight, eat with the whole gang and then we can talk, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I'd like that." Ryneka smiled timidly, not really sure what had just happened, there was a strange blankness in part of her memory, she put it aside for now. Alanna smiled back, she looked at a clock that hung on the wall.  
  
"Gods! I've missed more then half my class!" Fortunately, it's only Geography, she thought. "I'm gonna be in so much trouble! Jon'll kill me! Argh!" She cried in frustration, starting to pick up her books hurriedly.  
  
Ryneka chuckled softly and shook her head, Alanna paused to watch her. Ryn ripped a piece of paper from a binder and scribbled a note on it, then she handed it to Alanna, "Here," she said, "give this to your teacher, she'll let you off the hook."  
  
"What's it say?" Alanna asked, taking the note.  
  
"Says you weer with me, doing some volunteer work, the teachers know I do all sorts of things with the new kids." She winked at Alanna. "Jon'll never know!" She started to walk away then called over her shoulder, "See you tonight! And please think about Friday!" Then she dissapeared around the corner.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Alanna muttered to no one then ran off to her class.  
  
Ok, I know this chap really sucked but the next one will be much MUCH better, I promise! And it won't take so long! :D hehe, ok, super duper important question, I need to know how to put italics into the uploaded fic, it's on my computer but it doesn't upload as italics what do i do? Help! I use Microsoft Word and upload as a doc. That's their thoughts are never in italics, sorry! Alrighty, other than that i have but to say two things: REVIEW! And  
  
THANK YOU TO:  
  
Alcapacien: Mwahahahahaha! You'll just have to wait and see, I didn't write it in this chapter but I guarantee it's in the next one. Thanks for all the encourgement along the way ( it really helped! I hope you review this chap too. Feel free to "scream" at me for my super late update. *Makes puppy dog eyes so you review* pweeeeeeease? Lol, hope to hear from ya soon!  
  
Miss-mags-ak: Alanna DOES rule! ^_^ lol, here is your "more" I hope you like, it's one of my least favorites (actually i think it's crap so I might replace it later on with a better one) but next one will be better so I'm ok with it. thx for answering the poll question. And thx a lot for adding me to your fave list it was really nice of you and very encouraging, plz review this chapter you can flame if you want but you dON"T want to *hipnotizes reader* *reader refuses to give in and pokes writer in the eye* Karma: "Ow!" miss-mags: "HAHA that's what you deserve!" ok, I'm done, c u l8er, I hope.  
  
Fate of Destiny: OMG! Thank you soooooooooo much for helping me out! I'm using some of your ideas (obviously). It's been so long since we talked! Anyway, I hope you like the chp (btw, I love ur story!) and that you review, sorry it took so long!  
  
Maria: I loved ur review! Lol, thx for answering the poll question. U love it? Awwwww. thx, love is such a strong word. The soon update didn't really happen but I did eventually post, rn't u proud? * looks around sheepishly* sowwy. I hope you decide to review again!  
  
All of you readers, push the beautiful button right there V ^_^ 


	9. Secrets Revealed

Some books should be tasted some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly  
  
Alright, so... I'm ssooooooooooooo sorry! I've had so many problems with my computer and I've been really busy with school and stuff... I am so ashamed! I hope you don't all hate me and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter, I shouldn't really be doing this right now, I have exams tomorrow but oh well, immersing myself in fantasy helps me to destress. I want to thank everyone who reviewed and also my friends who reviewed personally, Emily and Lindsey (, ummm... this chapter is a little different, POVs will be switching a lot but I hope you can tell it all apart, I still don't know how to upload italics, if anyone could tell me, I would greatly appreciate it. I also wanted to apologize about an error I made, I said Ryn's ex was Ryan, but it's actually Russell, oops, anyway, in this chapter, there is a bit of mushy stuff and a lot of dialog, I hope you don't mind. Flames are always welcome, and reviews even more so! ( alright, I'll stop babbling so you can read, have fun, enjoy!  
  
P.S. I really am sorry it took so long!  
  
Karma  
  
~**~ Secrets Revealed  
  
I should probably go, it could be fun, right? I'm sure there are lots of girls who would be delighted to go with me. Of course, I won't go if the others don't come which means I can't go, Raoul despises balls, and dances are pretty much the same, and Alanna hates them even more, especially since she'll have to go with a girl. Jon made a face, how could he even be thinking of going! But he knew why, it was so he could get away from the stress he'd been subjected to, by his feelings!  
  
The week had been stressful enough with classes but every time he caught himself thinking about...her, the weight on his shoulders only seemed to exacerbate. The only highlight of his week had been on the first day, meeting Ryneka, he still did not truly understand what had happened that day except that as soon as they had touched, he had been filled with a glowing warmth, he had looked into her eyes, and understood everything, they were meant to be, not romantically of course, he would never steal her away from his new friend who was so obviously enamoured of her, no it was a different connection they had, one that could have been blood, or even soul. Her eyes, they were his! Her hair, like that of his mother but much more vibrant, without disease and sickness overshadowing her. The girl was entrancing, and she had an air to her that seemed almost casually stricken around herself, a wall of casualty that let nothing in. But Jon had pierced the wall, as had Ayden, and he had seen into her heart, he could not understand what he saw but he shared a bond with her that could not be broken.  
  
Jon wondered if she had gazed so clearly into him as he had into her, had she perceived those intimidating feelings he had for his squire? Or his fear of someday ruling a country and letting down his people? Then he thought, what she had seen those thoughts? She would know he wasn't from this world! She would ask herself questions, what if she thought she was insane! He knew what it was that had acted between them, magic, he wasn't sure if it was his own, but he had felt a strangeness about that magic that lefty him befuddled. As far as he knew, she hadn't told anyone of the moment and she probably wouldn't for a while...  
  
Jon was still thinking things over when Gary walked into the room and his thoughts reverted to something else he knew about the girl.  
  
~**~  
  
Maybe I should ask her...No... I couldn't do that to Ayden, he likes her way too much... But she's so beautiful... I can't...  
  
Gary walked into the room so deep in thought he didn't even notice his cousin sitting in a chair, watching him discreetly. He was debating whether or not he should ask Ryneka to the dance that Friday, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since the first day they met, but none of his friends seemed to want to talk about her, except Alan, of course, because he was always so curious but Ayden and Jon were always around when they tried to talk. That first day, when he had first laid eyes on her, he could understand Ayden's attraction to her, she was gorgeous and she seemed so... ethereal. Her handshake, however, had been very real, and he had felt something in that touch, something amazing, heat rushed through him, his blood pulsed in his ears. He looked at her and he saw something words could not describe, he could have sworn he saw her flicker, like an illusion cast onto her that had momentarily shimmered and revealed what lay beneath, and what he glimpsed beneath that deceit was a vulnerable little creature that was lonely and craved love and attention but could do nothing but give those things, she was trapped by her own morals, by her sense of duty, by her love.  
  
Gary had fallen in love with her at that precise moment, well that was what he was calling it anyway. He felt for that little creature because he often felt that way too, trapped, by so many things... Gary sighed and shook his head, he flopped into an armchair and put his head into his hands, he couldn't ask her to the dance, the only one who could give her what she needed, that love and caring, that attention, was Ayden, and he knew it deep into his soul, but still... there was still that feeling, like he had to protect her from something... Gary shook his head again and thought about his father, about his homeland, he couldn't wait to get back home. I'll talk to Alan tonight, maybe he can give me some insight.  
  
~**~  
  
Alanna felt... she didn't know how she felt, stressed? No, that wasn't it... guilty? Maybe a little. Confused, definitely. She thought back to her encounter with Ryneka on the bus ride back to the new house they were renting, Alanna had had her suspicions about the girl for a while, that first day, she had acted very strange, and her and Jon... that was bizarre. So when she had been talking with Ryneka today, she had used the necklace the Mother had given her, and when Ryn had spoken of her encounter with Jon, and then of Gary, there had been a... spark or something, Alanna wasn't sure what it was yet but she intended to find out. Then she thought about another comment the girl had made, should she go to the dance on Friday?  
  
It could be fun, in spite of the fact that she would have to go with a girl, and she had lots of new dance moves to show off. Alanna laughed at herself internally and shook her head, she'd think about it, for now, she had more important things to think about, like the visit tonight.  
  
~**~  
  
"What do you mean, you invited her? You didn't tell any of us!" Jon yelled.  
  
"I know, I'm sorry, it just kind of... came up, ok?"  
  
"No, not ok, what are we supposed to do for supper? How are we going to keep her entertained, and how are we going to get rid of this mess before she gets here?!?" Jon, wasn't really mad at her, Alanna knew, he was panicking! That's so cute! She thought, then realized what she had just thought, No it isn't! she reprimanded herself.  
  
"What are you so worried about? Your mother always used to spring ladies on you and you never complained!" Alanna asked, a mocking grin spread across her face at his expression, he was angry now but that was better than letting his friends see him panic.  
  
"Of course I never complained! I am a prince, I am not allowed to complain! And I never had anything to worry about anyway, I had servants, we don't have any here! they cooked, I can't! they cleaned, I can do that, but never this amount in such a short period of time! And we had people who kept them busy, either that or they felt so fortunate to be in my presence that it didn't matter what I did."  
  
"But now it does matter?"  
  
"Of course it matters! I like to be respected for who I am, not for who my parents are."  
  
"Very good, because that attitude is why I am proud to know you." Alanna told him with a knowing smile, Gary and Raoul grinned and agreed. Jon smiled back at her, now understanding what she had done. "And, moreover, you have us! I can cook, I know the rest of you can't" the boys hung their heads, it was true, all they could do was skin a rabbit and roast it on a spit. "If you all work together, I'm sure you can manage this clutter in time for our visit and we can all entertain a single guest, certainly." She said, always the diplomat. Everyone laughed and set to work on picking up the things that had been strewn across the floor in their hurry in the mornings before school.  
  
Faithful sidled over to her, and rubbed his side against her legs she smiled at the silent appraisal. Jon made his way over too, he smiled at her and cocked his head sideways, thinking. She smiled back, wondering what he was about to say. Then he seemed to decide he didn't want to say it so she shrugged and turned back to the cupboards to find something for supper. She was about to pick out some spices for the lasagna she had decided to make, a hand slipped into hers, and dragged her into the hallway that led to their room, when they got there, Jon let go and closed the door behind them. She looked at him, and realized with surprise that he was blushing, he was so adorable when his face was red! Stop that! She told herself sternly, he's probably just a little embarrassed at having lost his temper earlier.  
  
"I wanted to apologize for having lost my temper earlier." Jon said with a sheepish smile, he circled around her and sat down on the bed.  
  
See? Yeah, but why would he drag you over here just for that? The little nagging voice at the back of her mind retorted. She smiled at her knightmaster. "That's alright, but you have to admit, I saved your butt back there." She told him with a self-satisfied smile.  
  
Jon stuck his tongue out at her childishly. "I was doing perfectly fine!" He said, puffing out his chest. Alanna laughed and so did he. "No, seriously, thank you, you probably saved me in the eyes of the others." He smiled gratefully, and she saw genuine thanks in his eyes. She smiled back.  
  
"No problem, it's my job as your squire, not to mention your friend." She spoke truly.  
  
Jon's smile widened. "So, are you going to the dance on Friday? I was thinking of going but I don't want to go if you aren't going to be there." Jon watched her, was that a flicker of hope in her eyes?  
  
"I was thinking about it but I really don't want to if I have to go with a girl." She laughed and made a face, Jon though, didn't laugh.  
  
"Is that right?" He asked, getting up from the bed and advancing on her, she tried to back away only to find the door pressed up against her back, the doorknob painfully digging into her side. He kept closing in, until his face was only two inches from hers, then he leaned into her, sliding his hands unto her hips and placing his lips onto hers gently, she was shocked to find her hands sliding slowly up his chest and over is shoulders to play in his gelled hair. When he slid his tongue across her lower lip, she shivered, and opened her mouth hesitantly in response, she felt him smile against her face, felt the intimate scraping of his teeth on her lip, his tongue delving deeper into her mouth, touching hers, feeling the hot, wet interior of her mouth tenderly. She reached into his mouth with her own tongue, feeling the softness of his tongue under hers, the resistance of his cheek, the taste of him was sweet and slightly minty, she ran her tongue experimentally across the roof of his mouth and he shivered with pleasure, she smiled at her success. As he moved in to taste her again he pressed her more firmly against the door, his mouth already atop hers, she moaned in protest as a sharp pain exploded through her side.  
  
Jon immediately pulled back. "I'm sorry, was it too much? Did I bite you? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you!" His face was so full of concern, Alanna could only smile and shake her head as she rubbed her side, he noticed and raised an eyebrow, she pointed at the offending doorknob. "Oh, well that's a relief."  
  
"For you maybe," Alanna said with a smile, "that thing hurt!"  
  
Jon laughed, "I suppose it would. Would you like me to help with the pain?" He asked suggestively.  
  
"I would love you to but right now I have to go make supper and I don't think your friends will appreciate your lack of assistance with the mess you were complaining about only moments ago." Alanna told him with a smile, the embodiment of casualty even though she was shaking inside. "And fix your hair, we have company coming over, don't forget, you also have to call and ask Ayden if he'd like to come over for supper too, it's only polite."  
  
"Yes, mother." Jon said and grinned at her, he ran a hand through his disheveled hair and asked, "Do you really like it?"  
  
Alanna relaxed a little and nodded vigorously as she tweaked a few of the spikes. "Mmmmmmmmmmm... very much!" then, before Jon could say anything, she left him to it and went back to her lasagna, Great, she thought, now I'm going to look incompetent because supper will be late! She shook her head and walked back to the kitchen.  
  
~**~  
  
"Mmmm... smells good! What's cooking? Who's cooking?" Ayden cried from the front door, swinging it closed behind him.  
  
It was now almost six o'clock and Alanna had only just removed her lasagna from the oven. The apartment was filled with the suggestive aroma of pasta. "It's lasagna and I made it." Alanna called to him, walking out of the kitchen into the front hall, removing her oven mitts. "I hope you like it, but if you don't, too bad."  
  
"Don't worry, I'll like it. I love pasta!"  
  
"Good," Alanna smiled. She walked back to the kitchen and stripped herself of the apron with the words "Kiss the Cook" on it. "I hope Ryn likes it too. Oh, we'll have to wait another ten minutes or so for the lasagna to cool down." Alanna walked out of the kitchen and into her and Jon's room to change into some nicer clothes.  
  
A knock at the door brought Alanna out of her room a minute later, it was Jon. "Ryn is here, she was asking for you, she seems a little anxious." Jon frowned slightly.  
  
Alanna nodded, "Tell her I'll be right there." Jon left and Alanna followed shortly. Ryn was sitting seeminlgy lackadaisically (A/N: I've always wanted to write that!) on a couch with Ayden and talking freely about his new hairstyle. When she spotted Alanna, she smiled and waved but was too polite to conclude her conversation with Ayden. When they were done, Alanna offered to show Ryn around, her guest agreed, but instead, they went directly to Alanna's room and sat on the bed to talk.  
  
"So what really happened today?" Ryn asked as soon as Alanna had settled herself on the bed facing her.  
  
"What do you mean?" Alanna asked uneasily, shifting her weight.  
  
"I know something other than what I remember happened today on that bench, and I'd like to know what, I know it's probably embarassing for me but I have to know what I told you. And how did you make me forget?" Ryn asked, perplexity sculpting her features.  
  
She remembers? How could she? I used the Gift! Alanna thought. "Why do you think I did anything? You had a bit of a breakdown, maybe your mind rejected the memory." Alanna grasped at an idea.  
  
"I know, believe me. And my mind wouldn't discard a memory in the expanse of a few seconds. So what did you do, and what did I say?" Ryn asked in a no-nonsense voice.  
  
No dodging that! Alanna thought flippantly. "Well, it's kind of a long story and we only have a few minutes before supper, but here's the short version." Alanna sighed and decided to tell Ryn what had happened, later she would give her her thoughts on what was happening and why, and also what she had done to make her forget. "You started crying and saying you didn't know what to do and then asking if you should tell him or not—I'm guessing you meant Gary—" Ryn nodded carefully, "and then you asked 'and what about Jon, huh? And Ayden?' I was a little thrown off by that," Alanna shrugged. "That's about it."  
  
"Alright," Ryn nodded again, a little as if she were trying to convince herself that it was real.  
  
Just then, there was a knock and Gary popped his head into the room a little shyly. "Jon says supper's ready, Alan, Ryn." He nodded to them and left to the kitchen. Ryn was smiling goofily and blushing furiously.  
  
~**~  
  
"Supper was delicious!" Ryn told Alanna reverently, dabbing the corner of her mouth with her napkin and pushing her empty plate ahead of her. She patted her stomach, "Where did you learn to cook like that? Not most guys can do that."  
  
"No big, I learned a while back, just picked it up as I went I guess." This wasn't true, Alanna had only learned to make lasagna this Tuesday but it wasn't that hard once you knew how. She rose from the table and started collecting dishes and carrying them to the sink, Ryneka followed. "Oh, don't do that, you're the guest!" Alanna exclaimed.  
  
"That's alright, I like to help, and it's not like the boys are going to do it1" Ryn smiled and winked at Alanna so the others couldn't see. Immediately, all the boys scrambled to their feet, their chairs scraping on the kitchen floor. They hurriedly cleared the table, Alanna and Ryn laughing all the while as they settled on a couch in the living room that flowed from the kitchen with bottles of Root Beer. The young men also started the dishes so at Jon's suggestion, both of them retired to Jon and Alanna's bedroom.  
  
They sat down comfortably on the bed, sipping their sodas. "So, let's get on with it," Ryn said, her face set resolutely. Supper had been uneasy, Ayden and Ryn made small talk and spoke freely but every time Ryn would catch Jon, Alanna or Gary's eye, she would fall into a lapse of silence for the next few minutes before Ayden shook her mentally with a joke and brought her back to Earth, the way only he knew how. She would smile and answer him accordingly then move on to a different topic of discussion. The noise around the table was mostly made by Ryn, Raoul and Ayden. Alex didn't speak at all except to compliment Alanna on her cooking and subsequently excuse himself to his room for the rest of the night, saying he had much studying to do.  
  
Now, however, there was silence again as Alanna tried to figure out how to lay out this information for Ryneka. "Alright, first of all, you have to know something..." Alanna started, stopped, and sighed, Ryn had to know, just like Ayden had had to know, it was just too bad she couldn't talk it over with Jon first, oh well. She went on to tell Ryneka the same things she had told Ayden, omiting the part about her brother and mother. "I know it all seems a little absurd but it's all true," Alanna said. "Here, I'll show you," she offered.  
  
"How?"  
  
"Like this," Alanna raised a hand and reached inside herself, she pulled her Gift into her hand until it glowed a bright violet.  
  
"Wow," was all Ryneka could muster.  
  
"Yeah, well, there's lots more where that came from. Everything I said is true, about Jon and Raoul, Alex and Gary."  
  
"So let me get this straight, Jon is your knightmaster and Prince of your realm, he's an only child, and therefore, only heir to the throne. Raoul is a knight, and a friend of yours, so is Alex, Gary is too, but he's also Jon's cousin on his mother's side. You are a squire—that of Prince Jonathon, you've an extraordinary gift, magic, as does Jon. Yours is pruple and his blue, is that right?" Alanna nodded serenely. "I see,,," Ryneka trailed off for a moment, deep in thought, then her face cleared suddenly. "Oh I get it! You..." she laughed and shook her head as if at her own blindness, "you're a girl! It's so obvious!"  
  
"WHAT?!?" Alanna cried.  
  
"You are, aren't you!" Ryneka asked, a grin widely spread across her face. "I knew it! That's why you like Jon!" Thankfully, she kept her voice down so she wouldn't be heard by prying ears. "Yes, you probably got someone to forge a letter to the king for you, or the training master or whatever. Then you acted as any boy, to get the respect you deserve. Ayden told me you kept asking about girls wearing pants and that you seemed amply proud of yourself for it. because you believe men and woman should be equal, even from the medieval point of view you entertain, no offense."  
  
"How did you know all this? How could you figure it out so easily?"  
  
'Oh, well, because, I'm perceptive, I can put two and two together and I rad a lot of medieval fiction in which girls are the heroines."  
  
"What does that have to do with it?"  
  
"Well, as a society, that's something we are very proud of—being equal that is, and we like to right fictious stories about heroes who turn the tides in the favor of democracy."  
  
"Ok..."  
  
"So, of the people here, from your world, only Jon knows, am I right?"  
  
Alanna stared wide-eyed at the brunette. "Yes, you are, how did you know that?"  
  
"I'm not really sure... does it matter?"  
  
"Yes..." Alanna trailed off, "you see, I have this idea..."  
  
"Idea?"  
  
Alanna nodded, "I think this 'perceptiveness' of yours might actually be a manifestation of the Gift... that and those 'feelings you were talking to me about."  
  
"How could it? there isn't any magic in this world."  
  
"Maybe, or maybe it's really because you aren't from here... I don't know... this will take much thinking..."  
  
"Well, you do that, meanwhile, are you going to go to the dance on Friday?"  
  
"Yes, I've decided I will, why?"  
  
"Well, are you going as yourself?"  
  
"I don't unders... Oh no! No! I couldn't!"  
  
"Oh but you could, I'll help, we'll get you all nice and pretty for Prince charming!"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Sure, you've got major potential. And the dresses aren't so restricting or voluminous."  
  
"Alright, I'll do it!"  
  
"Good. Ummm... can I tell Ayden?"  
  
"I suppose, I know I can trust him, I'm just a little apprehensive about telling people this, it might slip or someone might overhear."  
  
"Don't worry, you aren't surounded by evil plotting men who wish to hurt your Prince, alright, chill."  
  
"Alright..." Alanna agreed slowly, thinking about Alex.  
  
Ryneka smiled, then, Jon knocked three times in rapid succession and called for the two to come out and have some tea. Once they were all settled in the living room, teacups in hand, Faithful came trotting in from his nap on the windowsill, it was still fairly bright outside, at 7:30 pm or so. Everyone watched as the small cat wandered into the room, head high, and bypassed Alanna, to paw at Ryn's leg!  
  
"What?!?" Raoul and Gary cried. "He wants to sit with someone other than Alan? Someone he doesn't even know?!"  
  
"What are you talking about? Faithful does what he wants." Alanna told them sternly.  
  
Ryneka ignored them all, picking up the cat and draping him easily on her shoulders, like it was the most natural thing and petting him slowly, letting her fingers run down his tail in a familiar gesture. Alanna frowned, she couldn't belive it, Faithful had actually picked Ryn over her? She supposed he had his reasons but he usually would have told her what they were first. Then she realized, Ryn had draped him so his head was on her left shoulder instead of her right, Faithful never let anyone do that! Alanna slowly moved closer to the cat to look into it's face and was surprised to find it wasn't Faithful at all! This cat had sapphire eyes, like it's master's!  
  
"I don't know what you're all talking about," Ryn said, "but this is Trust—Tru, not... Faithful, was it?"  
  
"Guys, she's right, the cat's got blue eyes! As blue as Faithful's are purple!" Everyone frowned and muttered, Yes, Alanna thought, this will take much consideration!  
  
YAY! I'm finally posting! Yay! Lol, I really want to thank EVERYONE for reviewing, I can't write you an individual note because if I do, I won't post right NOW. So, thx again, thank you ESPECIALLY to Mistyfox14 (Kat) for her extremely needed push to post! Alright, I will speak to you all later, I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter, he next one is coming up soon I hope. Plz review, you're all welcome to flame. Bubi, thx again Kat! 


	10. Discovery

YAY! I'm finally posting! Yay! Lol, I really want to thank EVERYONE for reviewing, I can't write you an individual note because if I do, I won't post right NOW. So, thx again, thank you ESPECIALLY to Mistyfox14 (Kat) for her extremely needed push to post! Alright, I will speak to you all later, I hope ya'll enjoy this chapter, he next one is coming up soon I hope. Plz review, you're all welcome to flame. Bubi, thx again Kat!  
  
"Where are they!? They've been gone for almost a week!" The king roared.  
  
"Please, Roald, calm down. No good can come of this bickering, Jon is a smart boy, he knows not to get himself into unnecessary trouble," his wife strived to soothe his tormented soul.  
  
"Yes, and the others are sensible lads, and with litle Alan by his side, he won't get into any calamity, none of them will," the king's brother-in-law assured him.  
  
"Yes, but where are they? All we know is that they are in another world, unreachable to us. Before now we had never heard of such a thing. We've only just been through war with Tusaine and now our Prince is no longer here to make sure everything stays right because it is too dull?!" Roald de Conté started to pace, making wild gestures as he spoke. "Anything could happen, we've no idea where they are, five of our best knights! They have no notion of what that world may contain—"  
  
"I'm sure those boys wouldn't have just jumped in there without thinking, they are all very reasonable lads and wouldn't do anything without thinking." The Duke repeated himself. The Queen walked to her husband, placing a tentative and affectionate hand on his shoulder, he stopped pacing and turned to face her, holding her hand with his. They looked at each other for a moment before spoke.  
  
"We'll find him, no matter what it takes, no matter where he is, we'll find him."  
  
The King only nodded.  
  
"Yes, but where is he?!" Roger screamed as he threw his scrying bowl across the room to crash loudly in the wall of his secret room. He'd been looking for his not-so-dear cousin for days now and didn't have a clue of where he might be, he had never even thought it possible to change worlds, of course he had always conceived that there were other worlds but he didn't know how to get to them, he thought it was impossible. For all he knew, they were dead or trapped in another world. That would make his job either considerably harder or easier, but it wasn't something he had planned on, definitely not, he thought, and he didn't like things not going as he planned.  
  
"So who's this 'Faithful'?" Ryn asked, oblivious to the others' stares.  
  
"He's my cat, well, not 'my' exactly, I like to think of him as a companion, if you know what I mean..." Alanna trailed off. Ryn nodded with seemingly complete understanding. "Well, it was just strange because Faithful looks exactly like..." She looked pointedly at the cat draped on Ryn's shoulder.  
  
"Trust, but I call her Tru." Ryn supplied.  
  
"Tru," Alanna picked up, "except he's male and has purple eyes, like mine." The other s made strangled noises as Alanna gave away that her lavender hued eyes were not phony. She waved a hand dissmissively at them. "Tru's seem to be as blue as your own, hm?"  
  
Ryn smiled knowingly, "I had the the great pleasure of meeting Faithful, I saw him roaming the halls of the school and mistook him for Tru, when I attempted to place him on my shoulder, I knew it was not she, I have the proof." She grinned, pulling up the sleeve of her shirt and showing off the scratches on her right forearm. Alanna grinned back, knowingFaithful, that was light damage. "Then we got to talking—"  
  
"Talking?! You mean...?" Ayden looked at her incredulously, as did the rest of the group.  
  
"Well... yeah," she frowned, "he told me he spoke to you all the time, how come you're so... surprised?"  
  
"Well, Faithful doesn't talk to just anyone..." Jon started.  
  
"But I can see why he would speak to you," Alanna was starting to understand the situation slightly better. She smiled, "Tru can speak too, can't she?"  
  
Ryn smiled at her friends intuition. "Yes, yes she can."  
  
"When did you meet her?"  
  
"Um, about three months ago, or so. How about you and Faithful?"  
  
"Same. You don't have contacts, do you?"  
  
"No, and neither do you or Jon, right?"  
  
Jon smiled. "You already knew that."  
  
"I might have," Ryn answered innocently. "You aren't from here, are you?" Her gaze swept over the group, resting hesitatingly longer on Gary, he smiled reassuringly, getting up and getting two glasses of orange juice, handing her one before sitting on the arm of her chair. She looked up at him shyly.  
  
Alanna watched Ayden frowned at Ryn's behavior toward Gary, I have to tell her about that, I don't think it would do for her to ruin it with Ayden, especially for Gary who seems to think about her as a sister.  
  
But Alanna had the wrong impression of Gary.  
  
Maybe she does like me! Should I ask her to the dance? No, I'll wait until we are alone... If I aske at all. Gary thought to himself, sipping his orange juice. Ryneka made him feel like none of the women at court, he felt like he had to act differently around her, like he wanted to act differently around her.  
  
Jonathan picked up the tension in the room, "So, I think it might be about time Ryn went home, I'm sure you must be getting tired." He looked at her expectantly.  
  
"Oh, yes, you're right, I really should get going, I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow..." she looked pointedly back at Jon, he smiled. Ryn rose from her chair, steadying herself flirtatiously on Gary's thigh, Tru balanced herself in a very casual way, moving in sync with Ryn, the two moved as one. Whene Ryn staightened, Tru jumped off her shoulder, down her back and Ryn smoothly brought her leg out behind her for Tru to climb down.  
  
Wow, I can't do that with Faithful! They must be really close! Alanna thought reverently.  
  
Ryn said goodbye to everyone, hugging them all, kissing Jon and Ayden on the cheeks, she waved goodbye as she walked out the door, Tru at her heels.  
  
Alex closed the door softly, hoping no one noticed him spying on them. He had oto find a way to speak with his master, but how...  
  
So, how'd d'you like it? i know you all totally hate me right now, and I know this chap isn't all that great. I don't have a real excuse except school, my job and my fed up computer. So yeah, plz review, I'm going to genuinely try hard to write and post the next chap as soon as possible, once summer is here, posting will be a lot more frequent, I'm sure. Ciao. 


	11. Preperations

Disclaimer: It's not mine.

Gah, I can't believe I haven't written all summer! I'm so sorry! I blame it all on work! Damn we should kill work! I really am sorry, I'm kinda going through writers block here and I have some issues at school goin on, so yeah, please bear with me, I'll try to update regularly, like once every two weeks or something. If you guys have any ideas, they're more than welcome. This chap is really short, I'm sorry but I don't know what else to write!

Ryne-Ryne

Preperations

"Stop fidgeting!" Ryne told Alanna, the cry muffled by a mouthful of bobby pins.

"I can't help it; I want to see what it looks like!"

"Well, you can't so sit still!" Ryne sighed as she placed the last bobby pin. "There, those extensions are great, very natural. Now, the dress."

"Dress!?"

"Well, yeah, it _is_ a semiformal, and anyway, with your bod, it'll be totally hot, and it's lavender to match your eyes, it's simple, yet elegant. It has spaghetti straps and an open back with crisscrossed straps. There's also a slit on the side up to the thigh, both to show off your legs and to leave room for movement. Go on, try it, I got in petite, it should fit." Ryne sighed when Alanna hesitated. "Humour me." She smiled encouragingly.

Alanna smiled back, picked the dress from the edge of Ryne's bed and went into the adjoining bathroom to change. It was Thursday afternoon and Alanna was spending the night at Ryneka's to prepare for the dance the next day, over the last week, they had become close friends and Alanna had introduced her to her friends, Kyla, Lindsey, Steph and Emily, they were all going to meet at Ryne's house the next night to get ready before the dance. Tonight was more of a prep course for Alanna, to figure out all the details of her outfit.

The mirror in the bathroom was covered with a sheet because Ryne didn't want her to see herself until she was all done over. Alanna slipped into the dress, careful not to let it catch on her hair. It was actually comfortable; unlike this "bra" contraption Ryne had bought expressly for her and made her wear. The slit on the side really did leave room for movement and the material—silk—felt very different from her usual, rough, men's clothes.

_I wonder what it looks like._ Alanna thought, then, _one peek, she'll never know._ Her hand, as if of a mind of its own reached for the sheet draped over the mirror, she didn't try to stop it.

"Don't even think about it!" Boomed Ryne's voice from the other side of the door. Alanna jumped an impossible three feet high. "Move away from the mirror and exit the bathroom with your hands where I can see them!" She was laughing now.

Alanna came out, heart beating fast, eyes wide.

"What? You look like you just saw a ghost." Ryne chuckled.

"How—" Alanna's voice emerged as a croak. She licked her lips and swallowed before trying again. "How did you know?"

"Know what? That you were going to look? I'm not sure, I just got this… purple feeling and I knew what you were thinking, that I would never know that you peeked, you just wanted to know what you looked like. So I answered." Ryne shrugged as if it was the most normal thing to read someone's thoughts. "Anyway, come on, we have to finish you up before supper, let me see the dress on you." She grabbed Alanna by the wrist and dragged her out of the bathroom.

"Oh, yeah! That looks great! It really suits you, Alanna!" Alanna looked up sharply. "Hey, you gotta get used to it, my friend, we can't go around calling you 'Alan' at the dance, now can we?" She smiled. Alanna nodded. Ryne continued, "The dance is going to be so much fun! Who do you think I should go with?"

"Umm… I'm not sure who are you looking at right now? Who are your choices?" Alanna asked, settling back in the chair so Ryneka could do her makeup. It was nice to finally have someone to talk to as a girl.

"Well, I was thinking maybe it would be nice to go with Gary… but he probably won't want to, I mean, he's new and all, he probably won't even go…" Alanna didn't say anything, letting the information sink in as Ryneka kept talking. "Then there's Ayden, but I don't feel comfortable asking him, after I just broke up with Russel, maybe I should go alone and hook up with someone there… What do you think?" Ryneka asked Alanna, looking away from her hands which mechanically continued applying eyeshadow to Alanna's closed eyelids.

"You like Gary?" Alanna blurted.

"Well, yeah, ever since I met him and I got this weird feeling… like… I don't know… as if my stomach had lunged, like when you go downhill on a rollercoaster, or when you fall in love," a slight frown appeared on Ryne's delicate brow. "And this warmth spread all through me. I've never had a feeling like that before from anyone."

Alanna thought this over. _Maybe Gary _does _like her, how would I know? I still think she should ask Ayden though… I'm intrigued by these insistent 'feelings' though, I wonder what they are. What do they mean? Perhaps if I stay close to her, I will find out._ Alanna delt with the more expedient problem: "To tell you the truth, I think you should ask Ayden, I know he likes you and he's dying to ask you to the dance but he doesn't want to ask you when you might still be a little tender over Russel."

"Yeah? Okay then, I wasn't sure but I think you're right. And he always knows how to make me laugh, so if the dance is boring, he'll make up for it," Ryne smiled brightly. "Allright, I'm done, get up so I can see it properly," Alanna complied. "Oh, it's beautiful! Now all you need is jewelry and you're all set." She gently led Alanna to her dresser, where she opened a drawer, revealing a dozen or more necklaces, all different and for different occasions, bracelets, anklets and rings. In a second compartment, they found a cornucopia (I just had to write that!) of sparkling earrings.

"You want me to wear that?!" Alanna cried.

"Well, yeah, of course. It's the 'pièce de résistance'. You need jewelry to make te effect complete. You'll see, it'll be great." Ryne, was sifting through her amazing collection without obvious direction when she pulled out a necklace of white gold strung with amethyst, it was simple but intricately woven yet not too showy. She then extricated a small ring with an amethyst on it's silver crown and a matching silver anklet that sported elaborate designs that caught the eye and brought attention to the legs, there were no stones on the anklet but there was no need for any. Ryne strung the necklace on Alanna, looked pleased with herself and proceeded to add the other two pieces of jewelry. "All we need now are earrings," she smiled.

"Oh no, you don't. you are _not_ piercing me with a foul little needle to put in that marvelous yet unecessary little decoration." Alanna stated nervously, backing away from Ryne as she filtered through the assorted earrings.

Ryne looked at her like she'd sprouted a second nose, of course I won't pierce your ears it would totally give it away when you became Alan again, I'm going to give you fakes, now do you want clip-ons or magnets?" she held up two pairs of identical earrings that twinkled in the sunlight coming in through her window. "Magnets have less chance of falling off but they may hurt a little more." Alanna shrugged and pointed at the magnetic ones. Ryne nodded and discarded the other pair, moving towards Alanna with the chosen ones. She clipped them on without difficulty and smiled. "You're lovely, my dear."

"Thank you." Alanna almost whispered.

Ryne led her to the full length mirror silently, placed her squarely in front of it and lifted away the sheet that was draped over it.

Alanna gasped audibly, her hands flying to her face and hair, she twisted around to see all angles of herself. "I'm beautiful!" She murmured in awe. She turned to Ryne, beaming ecstatically. "Thank you, Ryne. You're a miracle worker."

Ryne smiled, "It's all in you, girl. You are only as beautiful as you make yourself." She hugged Alanna tightly, "Knock 'em dead, sister."

The rest of the night went by uneventfully, they sat around watching movies,eating junk food and talking about boys and the dance, and most of all: Tortall. Alanna explained everything to Ryneka, about Thom and George and Coram and _everything_. Ryne was very attentive and even understanding. She told of George's love for her, and her own lust for Jon, of what had happened between them. Ryne tried to be comforting, she couldn't really help the situation but she knew that someone to talk to was better than nothing so she listened and put in encouraging words where they were needed.

Ryne also told Alanna about her 'feeling' toward Jon. That he felt like a really close friend, who knew everything about her. She was even positive that he knew about her liking Gary. She didn't know what it all meant but she intended to find out.

All of a sudden the girls heard the shrieking cries of two cats fighting. They rushed out of the room to find their two black cats at each other's throats. The girls pried them apart and soothed them, then demanded an explanation but the cats refused to answer. The companions agreed not to fight again but anger still flashed through their vertical pupils.

_Thinks he's the Mother's favorite… I know it's not true. I've done much more for her than he has… I had to leave home! I had to go live in a strange world where there is no magic! I had to protect Ryne from herself as well as everyone around her…_ Tru was muttering to herself silently, still furious about Faithful. _Just because he's closer to her all the time doesn't mean she likes him better!_ She padded around a corner of the hallway and came face to face with her opposite.

Faithful hung his head in shame, _I am sorry, I should not have said what I did, the Mother loves us all the same, we know that. We shouldn't fight over her affection. I'm sorry._ He looked up into her beautiful blue eyes with pleading.

_It's alright, I'm glad you understand how much I have lost. I understand that you have also faced many challenges and that we will both face many more._ Tru approached Faithful cautiously, when he didn't back away she rubbed her head and neck against his tenderly. Faithful started to purr loudly and did the same.

Ryne, on her way to get some more drinks found them there and smiled, "I'm gald you two made up." She picked up both cats and brought them back to her room after getting the beverages she wanted.

"Hey Ryne!" Alanna's penetrated through Ryne's dream of dancing passionately with several partners she could not remember.

She rolled over and stared through sleep fogged eyes at the girl and the two cats licking her face to wake her up. Tru, getting impatient gently sunk her claws into Ryne's shoulder.

Ryne jerked and exclaimed, "Ow!"

The sudden movement caused Faithful's claws to seek purchase in her smooth skin.

"Ah! Stop that!" Ryne cried, brushing both animals off her gently. She nursed her wounds excessively to make the cats guilty.

Alanna rolled her eyes at her and grinned. "Hurry up and take a shower. You're going to be late for school! You'll probably want to clean up too, as Linds, Kyla, Emily and Steph are coming over tonight."

Ryne groaned. "Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Fine." Ryne lurched to her feet, grabbed an outfit she had picked out the night before and stumbled into the shower.

Half an hour later, Ryne had taken her shower, done her hair and makeup and was currenly cleaning her room of the mess she and Alanna had made the night before. "Oh whatever, the girls can deal with a little sloppiness." Ryne told herself, giving up on trying to remove a Coke stain from the carpet.

Alanna walked in all ready to go, carrying both her own and Ryne's school bags. "Ready to go?" She asked, looking skeptically around the room and holding out Ryne's bag.

"Yeah, let's go."

The two friends walked to the bus stop and waited there for a few minutes when Ryne finally turned to Alanna and asked "Are you going to ask him out today?"

Alanna didn't have to ask who 'he' was. "If I work up the courage. Are you going to ask him out?"

Ryne also knew who this 'he' was. "Yeah, I think so."

"I hope they say yes. Because if they don't' I don't think I'll want to go anymore." Alanna said. Ryne just nodded.

After a few more minutes, Ryne frowned and asked "What are you going to tell the girls?"

"About what?" Asked Alanna.

"About you, they still think you're 'Alan' don't they?"

"Oh, that. No I told Kyla and Emily on Tuesday, somehow they didn't seem very surprised. I'm sure they've told Steph and Lindsey by now."

"Why didn't you just tell all of them?" Ryne asked with perplexity.

"I don't know, it's just that, Steph's been haning out with Alex a lot and that makes me a little nervous," Alanna was frowning now. "And Lindsey is sort of a blabber mouth …" Alanna shook her head at herself.

"I see. But you trust Kyla and Emily?" Ryne proddded.

"Yeah, totally. Kyla is a lot like you, actually, I think you two will get along great and Emily is really easy going and always willing to help a friend. I'm not worried about them giving me away."

Ryne nodded firmly, "Good."

They boarded the bus quickly and arrived at the school just in time to catch the guys going in through the front doors. Jon caught sight of them first and grinned at Alanna and waved, walking closer. Alanna smiled shyly back and moved closer to him. Ryne beamed at Ayden and started a boisterous conversation with him about the cafeteria lunches.

They made their way to their lockers and pulled out their books just as the bell rung for homeroom. Jon turned to Alanna and smiled shyly and offered: "Can I walk you to class?" softly. Alanna smiled back and nodded; they walked down the hallway and Alanna glanced over her shoulder to see Ayden walking Ryne to her class. Ryne also glanced over her shoulder and both girls mouthed to each other 'Good luck!'.

Jon breathed in deeply and turned to his squire; " Can I walk you to class?" he was sure to be beat red now. As she nodded he forced himself to remain calm. They walked down the hallway and just before rounding the corner, Jon looked back down the hallway and made the thumbs up sign to Ayden who was doing the same from Ryne's side. _Hopefully she says yes_! Jon breathed deeply again and focused on the task at hand.

Alright, that's all for now. Sorry it's so short. Any suggestions? Flames? I'm ready and eager for them. Please review, say whatever you like; I'll work on getting another chapter up soon but I'm not sure what's going to or should happen next (I don't seem to have a plot anmore) so if you have an idea e-mail me or put it in a review or whatever. I'm really sorry again for the delay!


	12. Anxieties Appeased

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Ok, chapter twelve. . . I'm not sure how this is going to turn out so please be patient with me.

Ryne

Anxieties Appeased

"So, what did he say?" shrieked Kyla.

"What are you talking about?" Alanna stalled.

"We saw you walking with Jon, and then he leaned in and talked to you, what did he say!"

"Jon does that all the time."

"Not like that, he doesn't. He was pale and he kept looking at you nervously, and when he stopped talking you had this really goofy grin on your face and you said yes. Then he smiled really big too."

"So obviously he said something rather important" Steph piped in.

"Yeah so what did he say?" Lindsey asked.

Alanna sighed. "Fine, come here and I'll tell you." She beckoned them closer with a finger; when they were close enough she whispered, "He asked me to the dance."

All the girls except Steph squealed. "Oh my God! That is so great, Alanna! So, you said yes, now we all have dates tonight!" Lindsey exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's gonna be awesome!" Added Emily. Kyla nodded with a big smile.

Steph stared strangely at Alanna. "Have any of you noticed that today is Friday the thirteenth?" She asked, still staring at Alanna with eyes that seemed hooded. Alanna reached for her neck instinctively and as her fingers brushed the stone that hung from her neck, she thought she saw traces of orange on Stephanie's skin. When she attempted to see it more clearly, the color was gone.

"Yeah, I know, freaky, eh?" Kyla added as if the comment hadn't been out of place at all and with a guise of solemnity not often adopted by this frivolous girl. "Can you imagine if something unnatural happened at the dance tonight?" Alanna had a bad feeling of foreboding as she laughed with the others and then turned to the teacher.

_I cant' believe she said yes! This is fantastic! What am I going to wear? I have nothing to wear! It's a little odd that she said yes so fast though… _Jon was so deep in thought he didn't hear Ayden calling his name. When he finally realized he was being summoned, he swiveled quickly on his chair.

"Well?" The other boy asked impatiently.

"She said yes!" Jon beamed. "And you?"

"She said yes!" Ayden fell back in his seat with a sigh. "I'm so happy, I was afraid she'd say no because she never goes out with other guys until a month after her last boyfriend, you know." Ayden was rambling in relief now. Jon only nodded and pretended to listen. "I do feel kind of bad though, for Gary, I mean," Ayden continued.

"Gary? Why Gary?" Jon asked with a frown.

"Because he totally likes Ryne but didn't ask her out," Ayden pointed out the seemingly obvious.

"He does? He didn't tell me."

"Of course he didn't, and he sure as hell didn't tell me either, but I can tell. It's pretty obvious; he stares at her all the time. Rather like you stare at Alanna actually," Ayden grinned at his own joke. Jon glared at him and Ayden just kept grinning.

"Then why wouldn't he have told me? I am his cousin and one of his best friends," Jon mused.

"Well, we're pretty close friends too; maybe he thought you would tell me." Ayden suggested.

"No, Gary knows me better than that, maybe it's something else entirely."

"Maybe," Ayden shrugged.

"Well?" George practically sprang from his seat near the hearth in the inn called Dancing Dove. "Did you find them?" The man before him wore nothing but simple, unidentifiable clothes, like all his workers did, but he knew this one as well as all the others, he knew all of his men. They were supposed to be the best, so why hadn't anyone found her yet? He seated himself once more on his throne and looked at Francis before him, commonly known as Striker, he had a look of fear in his eyes and George knew what he was about to hear before the man opened his mouth. That didn't stop him from being enraged.

"Your Majesty," Striker's fingers started to twiddle. George looked at them pointedly and the twiddling stopped. "Your Majesty," Striker tried again. "I have searched, as my men and many others have, every end of the realm we can. The rogues from every other nation are being led by a member of our circle in search of the group." Striker looked like he was about to run from the room, his manner was calm and his noble's accent was still very noticeable despite years of faithful service to the rogue. His eyes portrayed fear to its highest extent, for he knew what the King of thieves could do in a fit of rage.

"But we still haven't found them." George flew out of his chair and grabbed Striker by his collar; a dagger already in hand and ready to add a new ear to his collection. However, George wasn't stupid and Striker had already wet himself. George knew his men were doing the best they could, and if they said they searched everywhere they probably had. _But where could she be? She has to be somewhere in Tortall!_ He himself had searched the Trebond grounds without arousing suspicion from Coram, he had Thom search the City of the Gods, his men were all over the nation, searching. The only place they hadn't looked was the Roof of the World, and knowing Alanna the way he did, she wouldn't be there for she was deathly afraid of the cold. He grinned at this.

His dagger had already resheathed itself, though he was still holding Striker by the collar. "Keep looking," he ordered gruffly, and then threw Striker away from him. "And clean yourself up," George stalked off to his room.

When he entered the room he flung himself onto an armchair. _I'll never forgive myself if I don't find her. I'll never forgive myself if I don't find _them_. But where could they be?_ George buried his head in his hands when he noticed the corner of an envelope sticking out from between his bed frame and his mattress. He stared at it in shock then grinned. _I should have known she wouldn't leave without a hint or something._ He quickly removed the letter from the envelope and read its contents.

_Dear George,_

_I hope this finds you well and not angry with me. I and the others have left the Palace as you surely know by now; life in Corus is dull and Duke Gareth will do nothing to ease this. We have gone on an adventure, do not search for us, we are beyond even your reach. We are not in trouble; we are merely exploring other possibilities for it. I don't know when we will be back but fear not, I will miss you too much to leave for very long. We should be back within a month, if ever you need to reach us, go to Jon's rooms in the Palace, you will find your way to us there, bring no one with you and do not let yourself be seen. No, don't frown at me_ —George _was_ frowning—,_ I know what you're capable of but you aren't invincible and our Smiling Friend may be watching. Remember what I have said, and I hope you aren't too cross with me for I meant no harm._

_Alan_

_P.S. Please do not take anyone's ears off on my account._

George smiled, then reread the letter several times before throwing it into the fire and watching it burn. This didn't tell him much more than he already knew but at least she had thought to say goodbye. _A month... it has already been two weeks. If they don't come back in another three, I will go after them._ Having made his decision, George sighed and shifted the ashes of the letter before rising and leaving his room.

He would assemble his men and tell them to spread the word; they were to end the search for the Prince and his friends. The men had been curious as to why it was so important to George, they knew that Alan was a very close friend of his and that the others were not much less, but why the Prince? He had never cared before, so why now? _Let them wonder,_ George told himself. _A good mystery will keep them guessing._

Suddenly, in the middle of Geography, last period, a loud ring was heard. Everyone's heads turned every which way, trying to locate the sound. Everyone except Alanna. She merely smiled at her necklace then resumed copying her notes. Ryneka, seeing this, reminded herself to ask about it later.

When the two left the class and started walking to their lockers, Ryneka glanced pointedly at Alanna and raised an eyebrow. "Must you see everything?" Alanna asked with a sigh of exasperation.

"Yes, I must. It's the only way I'll ever learn anything." Ryne replied pertly. Alanna gave her a curious look. "What?

"It's just that an old teacher of mine told me the exact same thing." Alanna stated, thinking of Myles.

"He was a wise man, then." Ryne said serenely, nodding her head.

Alanna laughed, seeing the twinkle in the girl's eyes. "Has anyone ever told you you should be a Player?" Alanna asked as they rounded a corner of the hallway.

"A Player? An actress you mean? Oh yes, many a time, but my parents disapprove, they say it isn't a good job for their daughter. Everyone expects me to be something great, more than I feel I could ever be." Ryne shook her head sadly.

Alanna looked at her friend in shock; that anyone could refuse Ryneka joy was beyond her. She decided to change the subject. "How goes it with Ayden?"

Ryneka opened her mouth to answer, a smile brightening her face once more. Then she frowned at Alanna, "Don't change the subject, I'm not stupid! What was the ringing in Geography, I know it came from you!"

Alanna regained her composure. "Oh! I had forgotten all about it!" She grinned slyly at her friend. "When the others and I left home a few weeks ago, we didn't really tell anyone, as you know. But I have a particular friend whom I know would stop at nothing to find us." Alanna was staring at nothing, thinking of George. She remained cryptic in her explanation for fear of prying ears. "So I left him a note, explaining that it was futile to search for us. I laid a device on it," at this Alanna flicked her fingers to indicate magic, Ryne nodded, "so that when he found it and read it, I would know. Hence the loud ringing sound. I only fear for what he has done in the two weeks prior to his discovery of my letter." Alanna shook her head.

"Who discovered what letter?" Jon had caught up with them in the hallway.

"The letter he left for George, he found it." Ryneka supplied, grinning at Jon.

Alanna looked at Ryne sharply, "How did you know his name? I didn't mention it before."

Ryne shrugged obscurely and retained her calm veneer "You must have told me before." With this she walked briskly over to Ayden and began chatting about nothing.

Jon frowned at Alanna's concerned face. "Let it go, you know we can trust her."

"I know, but it still bothers me that she knows so much without being told. I hadn't told either of them about George so how did she know?"

Jon patted her shoulder reassuringly, "We'll figure it out later, but for now, tell me: are you really coming tonight?" Jon peered at her suspiciously.

"I already said yes. I was going to ask you myself, you know." Jon's eyes widened. "What, would you rather I didn't come at all?" Alanna's temper broke loose.

"No! No, come, I'll met you here?"

Alanna nodded and set off to meet her friends and take the bus to Ryne's again. Ayden followed them for a while before leaving to his own bus.

The six girls gathered in Ryneka's big bedroom, spread out in the room, doing each other's hair, chattering over magazines and chips and getting dressed in the bathroom, showing their dresses off for the others. Kyla was first, she did a catwalk for the girls in her dark red dress, the same one she had worn for her grade eight graduation and the gala with her boyfriend that year. The dress had a few minor adjustments, the neckline was slightly lower cut to flaunt her large breasts, the red straps that crossed on her back were more numerous and the dress itself was shorter. The dress suited Kyla, though it bared too much skin for anyone else's comfort. Her long brown locks were piled in curls on the top of her head, a few stray curls danced coyly in her face, and she had a large red brooch in it that sparkled when it caught the light, drawing attention to her hair and face.

Lindsey went next, a long black dress with a V neck and lace down the arms made her look like she was ready for a funeral and it did nothing for her generous and slightly disproportionate curves. The girls were too polite to say anything but Lindsey already knew it was no good even with her attempts at making the dress seem attractive. Ryne frowned, "There must be something we can do..." The girl bit her lip, walking slowly around Lindsey. Finally she stopped in front of the redhead, tapping a finger against her chin. "The black suits your style and personality, and that's fine but it's to… conservative and depressing..." She turned to Alanna "fetch me the scissors I used yesterday." She said firmly, Alanna did as she was told. Returning to the room, she found Ryneka rolling up the hem of the skirt, saying "We'll make you stand out, bringing the attention away from your middle to your face and chest. We'll make a collar."

Lindsey looked at Ryne with a look of dread. "We won't have enough time, and I don' think any of us is capable of making this work, maybe I'll just stay home."

Accepting the scissors from Alanna, Ryneka looked at the girl sternly "Nonsense, we will make this work, we aren't about to leave you behind! And besides, I'm not _that_ bad of a seamstress! I usually know what looks good on a girl and I'm sure the others will help out, right girls?" She gave the others a slightly threatening look and they all nodded. "Anyway, it's all about making the right features stand out, like your hair for instance. It is beautiful, you should never change it, and the different tones really set off your blue eyes. The black of the dress is really dragging the color out of it and making it seem drab and lifeless." Ryneka crouched on the floor and picked up the hem of the dress again, starting to saw at the fabric with the scissors. "We're going to change that by; first of all, showing off your cute ankles and gorgeous calves, only halfway though, we don't want to show the knees at a semiformal dance." After making it once around the width of Lindsey, Ryneka stretched out her full five foot five inches and held a length of black fabric in her hands.

She started to work on it right away, making Lindsey twist and turn, sowing things directly onto the dress, cutting parts out, then getting Lindsey out of the dress to sew other things, finally after an hour during which the other girls did menial tasks like fetching water and supplies for Ryne, the dress was pronounced ready. She ushered her mannequin into the bathroom and closed the door after her. A few minutes later she called in: "Don't look in the mirror yet! Let us judge it and if it's ready you can see it, so you aren't disappointed." Lindsey emerged looking fabulous in a black gown that reached a little higher than the middle of her calves, with a slight slit on the right side up to her knee; Ryneka pointed at it and admitted "I felt like being a little risky since that's Lindsey's nature anyway." The girls only nodded, staring at the dress in fascination; in addition to the other changes, the dress now sported a diamond shaped hole against Lindsey's skin just above the swell of her breasts and there was an erect collar around her neck, Count Dracula style. This elevated the eye to her face and accentuated the delicate shape of her face, her high cheekbones and small nose. It also made her hair seem much more prominent and lively. The lace still covered her arms and seemed more like a fashion statement than a fashion faut pas.

"So, is it any good?" Lindsey asked shyly. "It feels a lot better," she grinned at Ryne, who smiled back.

"Oh, Lindsey, it's wonderful!" Kyla said softly, running her hand over Lindsey's should and arm where the velvety fabric and lace connected. Kyla turned to its maker, "How did you do it? And in only an hour! It suits her perfectly!" Ryne only shrugged.

"I think you've been approved," Ryne stated and brought out her full length mirror from her closet, she placed it in front of Lindsey and withdrew the cloth that covered it quickly, watching raptly for Lindsey's reaction.

The girl's eyes became like saucers as she stared at herself in the mirror, twisting and turning to see every angle of herself. "I'm beautiful!" She breathed.

Ryne laughed "You're no Holly Sernoskie," she mentioned the most popular girl in school, "but you'll do."

"No one is as good looking as Holly," Lindsey said.

Ryne shrugged and looked appraisingly at her subject. She turned and disappeared into her closet; she resurfaced with a pair of strapped black high heels which she handed to Lindsey. "Try them on, they should fit, size ten, I got them for my cousin but she didn't want them and I never got around to returning them." Lindsey reached out and grasped the shoes, slowly, she strapped them on. They were perfect, both for her feet and her outfit. Ryne looked ponderingly at Lindsey again and asked to see the girl's jewelry, when she had scanned through all of it; she picked out a gold locket for her to wear as well as two gold, tacky looking bracelets which she had to practically force the redhead to put on. When she had been duly convinced, the outfit was coming together nicely; the two bracelets on one arm actually gave it some spunk rather than make it look stupid. Ryne fished through Lindsey's jewelry one last time and emerged with a pair of chandelier gold earrings that were to be the piece de resistance to the outfit. "A little black eyeliner and some blush and you're ready to go," Ryne smiled. "Now," she clapped her hands, "the rest of us. We have," she paused and checked the alarm on her night table, "one hour before we have to leave."

The girls resumed the show of outfits; Steph came out next with a very conservative black dress that fit well in all the right places, black, comfortable looking heels that were very practical and Stephanie's style. As a splash of color, Steph had added dangling turquoise earrings that matched her eye shadow and a sort of cardigan of the same blue-green that wrapped around her and emphasized her small chest; it covered her bare arms and protected her from the chill, conservative yet cute. Perfect.

Next came Emily, she wore a dark green dress that highlighted the matching color in her eyes. She had high black stilettos that made the already tall girl even taller. Her mouse brown hair was curled slightly even though by the night's end the shoulder length hair would remain pleasantly wavy. Her dark eye makeup, done by Ryneka, made her look smoky and mysterious, which also matched her personality.

Alanna decided to get it over with and slipped into the bathroom while the others admired Emily, she was excited to see their reactions but even more so to see Ryne's outfit, she had found it interesting how everything she did for the other girls suited them perfectly but she'd only met them once before. It was no wonder Ryne knew every student in the school. Alanna donned her outfit and was putting on her magnetic earrings just as she heard the girls starting to wonder where she was. She emerged from the bathroom in all her glory. Ryne had added her extensions in earlier and done up her hair and makeup perfectly. The girls ogled her and she saw a huge smile on Ryne's lips as if her entire life's work lay before her. The girls all started talking at once, saying how pretty she was and how all the boys would love her and want to dance with her and that Jon would be very jealous and not able to take his eyes off her. Alanna smiled and thanked them, reassuring them that earrings weren't real and that she would be quite alright walking in the almost flat dainty shoes she wore.

Soon the chatter died down and Alanna looked pointedly at Ryne. "So when do we get to see the main attraction?" She asked with a small smile. The other girls were confused for a moment, and then light dawned on their faces. "Yeah!" they screamed in agreement "We want the real thing!"

"Alright, alright, hush!" Ryne told them with a smile. "Give me a minute to gather my things and I'll be right out." Of all the girls, she was the only one who had done nothing to her appearance in preparation for the dance. She gathered articles from around the room, seemingly at random and disappeared into the washroom. After ten minutes or so, a completely different person seemed to surface. She smiled shyly and asked: "So what do you think?"

She was resplendent in a pink dress, a color that would be totally out of place on the relaxed, level-headed girl they all knew. Alanna had expected a blue dress but the pink one was sensational. It curved gently over her considerable breasts, cutting squarely at the top and showing a little cleavage. It flowed gently over her stomach then hugged tightly at her hips before flaring out in an array of pleated skirt from mid-thigh to mid-calf. She sported a silver anklet with a pink design on it, a silver chain and pink stone was displayed at her throat and her hair was long and extremely straight, her red and blond streaks showing clearly but not clashing, accented by the pink. Ryne wore blue eye shadow, black eyeliner on the outside of her lashes and blue on the inside, a little blush and pink lip gloss and she was done. The overall effect was stunning. She walked forward and when her skirt had settled, they noticed her pink stiletto strapped heels; all her nails were French manicured.

"Good?" She asked, her confidence fading in the silence; her smile vanished.

Alanna recovered, "Of course! It's absolutely stunning! You look fantastic, it wasn't anything like I expected, it's much better." She reassured her friend. The others were quick to agree and add their own comments afterwards.

Ryneka's smile returned and she clapped her hands, saying: "Alright, it's just about time to go." She glanced at her watch, the movement drawing attention to the silver watch with a pink quartz face and a dozen of jangling silver bracelets on her wrists. Her silver necklace flashed.

Ryneka led them down the stairs and out the door, they al piled into her family van, a black Saturn. When they reached the school fifteen minutes later, the girls were all very nervous and could think of nothing but the dance, they entered the school, handing their tickets to the pair of chaperones at the doors. They walked to Ryne and Alanna's locker in the dark corridor where they would meet their dates.

"So, who is everyone going with, let's have a last run through for names, shall we?" Ryne suggested to get their minds off their growing anxiety.

"Alex," Kyla responded automatically, he'd been her boyfriend for a year. Ryne nodded.

"Jon," Alanna said, her stomach tightening at the thought. _I hope he likes my dress._ She thought surreptitiously. Ryne smiled at her.

"Ben," Lindsey added.

"Max," Emily supplied.

"Alexander," Steph said quietly, the others looked at her sharply. "Alanna's friend, the new one in grade eleven. Tirragen." She supplied; Alanna frowned delicately and looked away.

"And I'm with Ayden," Ryne said with a deep sigh.

"I hope you don't think that's a bad thing," A decidedly male voice commented. Ryneka's face lit with a grin.

"Oh woe is me, but I do!" She cried dramatically, turning to the voice. The boy grinned back; he was leading a group of ten boys or so.

"I ran into these guys and they said they were headed in the same direction so we walked together, it's nice to see all of you," he said charmingly. The boys introduced themselves one by one, but they were hard to discern in the near darkness. There was Gary, Jon, Raoul (who looked decidedly uncomfortable), Alex, Ben, the other Alex, Max, Ray, Kai and a friend of Ayden's who called himself Chung for no apparent reason. The entire group resettled itself into groups, the extra guys at the back, Ayden, Ryneka, Jon and Alanna in the lead. They all strolled off toward the gym.

End Chapter 12. Pretty long, actually, hope you liked it.

Ciao, review, please!


	13. Return

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Chapter thirteen. .. still waiting for some more suggestions. . . . Thanks for the reviews, Misty Fox and Coppery Mage, you guys are great 

Ryne

Return

Once the troupe reached the gym, they were chattering nicely. The tension from only a few minutes earlier had all but dissipated. Jon and Ryne were arguing heatedly about how best to defend a castle from a three pronged attack; this conversation, having been discussed many times was overlooked by others as a video game talk. Ayden and Alanna spoke softly of women's' rights, the others contented themselves with mundane talk about the weather, and the lovely outfits the girls were wearing.

The gym was a decorated in festive lights, hung with a large banner near the stage that read "All Saints Spring Formal". A throng of students was present, all wearing their finest. Little groups had formed around the and on the dance floor of friends, most of these comprising solely of one sex, but soon as the music started to play, the cliques mingled and a few pairs started to dance.

The boys and Alanna were amazed to see a few girls start to dance together, laughing and pointing at boys. This was far different from the balls they had attended at the Palace and they intended to enjoy it thoroughly. Soon Steph and Alex, Kyla and Alex, Emily and Max, Lindsey and Ben; had all dispersed onto the dance floor in search of other friends, secluded corners and some refreshments. Raoul had quietly slipped away and the other lone boys had already bee lined for a pack of girls on their own.

Alanna looked over at Jon and instantly wished she had not. He was staring at her without shame, his eyes filled with something she had never seen there but recognized from George. She refused to believe she could ever really be with Jon but tonight, she was not "Alan the perfect Squire" from Tortall, she was Alanna, Ryneka's cousin, who looked incredibly like Alan who was coincidentally too sick to attend. And she intended to enjoy the night to its fullest extent. She looked back at Jon and smiled, his eyes lit and he smiled back, offering his hand, she accepted and they twirled onto the dance floor, imitating the people around them.

Ryneka shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, Ayden was smugly talking to a group of his friends and she was not at all interested in what they were talking about. She excused herself from the group with under the mumbled pretext of getting herself a drink. Ayden nodded absentmindedly and returned to his conversation. Ryne made her way over to a secluded corner in which a pair of chairs was seated beside each other; she happily flopped onto one with a sigh.

She jumped when a voice behind her chuckled and said "You shouldn't do that, you know, you'll ruin your dress." With that a large figure appeared from the shadows beside her and made his way carefully into the chair beside her.

"Raoul! Oh, you scared me!" She distractedly smoothed out the pleats in her dress and sat herself more properly on the chair, Raoul reached over and helped with some of the pleats she could not see. "Thank you. I didn't expect to find you here, I was told to watch out for bulges in the window drapes but no more than that." Ryne said teasingly to her friend, smiling at him.

"Yes, well, I couldn't find any suitable drapes so I settled for a shadow."

"So I see."

"What are you doing over here on this fine evening; anyhow, shouldn't you be with your partner over there?" He nodded toward Ayden who appeared not to notice she was taking an awfully long time to get a drink.

Ryne shook her head a bit, "No, I don't think he really wants to be here with me, I've noticed this in Ayden before, he thrives on doing things other people have never done before."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know how I never date other people until a month after I've broken up with someone?" Raoul nodded. "Well exactly, Ayden is the first exception to that, and now he acts like it's nothing, I'm just one more trophy." She sighed, "I had hoped it would be different, but I guess not. I know he loves me but I don't think he's ready for the kind of relationship I want and I'm not sure if I love him that way..." she trailed off.

Raoul was staring at her a little strangely, silence set in and they just looked at each other. Suddenly Raoul spoke: "Would you like to dance?"

Ryne was surprised at first, and then smiled "I'd love to."

They both got to their feet and walked onto the dance floor, hand in hand. Alanna did a bit of a double take when she saw Ryne and Raoul dancing. Then she looked over to where Ayden was still talking to a group that had almost doubled since his arrival, completely unaware of his date. Jon followed Alanna's eyes through this and she heard him mutter "Good for you." When she looked back at him, he was looking at Ryne with such brotherly love; she wondered what was between them. Then the moment was gone and he looked at her once more.

"What do you mean 'Good for you'? She is ignoring Ayden!" Alanna asked.

"I was afraid he'd treat her like that, she's not the one ignoring he is. I'm proud of her for having fun despite his attitude. Furthermore," he gave her his best "Prince" voice but quickly reverted to his regular voice, "she got Raoul to come out and dance, which is also good." He smiled down at Alanna and laughed when he saw her concede. They continued their dance in silence.

Gary watched from the sidelines as Raoul danced with Ryne, he sighed and turned down yet another invite to dance. He didn't know what to do with himself, it was obvious Ayden had not been a proper gentleman concerning Ryneka, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He couldn't blame Raoul either for he had made an effort not to let it show that he liked Ryne; there was no way Raoul could have known. Maybe he should just give up; he couldn't even explain his feelings to himself, what if they weren't what he thought they were? Gary sighed again and remained where he was, watching the dancers enjoying themselves.

The song finished and the band took a fifteen-minute break, meanwhile all the dancers reconvened with their friends to talk, Raoul, Ryne, Alanna and Jon all met up near the refreshment table. Jon and Ryne smiled at each other knowingly and then looked away.

"So are you guys having fun?" Ryne asked with a big smile at Alanna. The couple nodded.

"And you?" Jon asked. This time Raoul and Ryne nodded. The pleasantries went on.

The man quickly swung his black cloak over his shoulders and pulled the hood down over his eyes. This had to be done quickly and he could not be seen. _I hope this works, lass or you have a lot to answer for._ He thought quietly to himself as he slipped out of his rooms and made his way to the Palace swiftly.

As he walked, he checked his daggers surreptitiously and thought fervently of the woman he loved. She'd been missing for less than three weeks now but tonight he was going to get her back from wherever she was.

The man signaled to the guard at the Palace, whom he knew and who let him in without so much as looking at him. He stole into the chambers of his loved one and there he found... nothing out of the ordinary. He thought back to the letter she had left him as her only goodbye and walked across the rooms to a door that joined her rooms to those of another man. George listened carefully at the door before reaching for the doorknob. Just as he was going to open the door, he heard a voice from the other side.

"Still nothing!" The voice hissed in outrage. George immediately recognized the voice as that of the Duke of Conté. "Three weeks and still nothing! Where are that damn boy and his friends?" The Duke lowered his voice marginally, there did not seem to be anyone else in the room with him. "And what of my ex squire? Where is he? They will be back, I know it, but how did they leave? And where? And most of all _when _will they be back? For I cannot have them appearing at the most inopportune moment." There was a rustling sound that George identified as the Duke moving the bed sheets. With a few more mumbled words, the Duke was gone.

George waited a few more minutes at the door to the Prince's chambers. Upon entering, he found that everything was in order, exactly as he had left it when he had first come to investigate the rooms two weeks ago. The only difference lay in the bed, where George's Sight told him bad magic lay; he could do nothing for it now. He had to get Alanna.

The four friends were chatting amiably when Ryne suddenly keeled over, holding her stomach. She whimpered a bit and did not straighten until the others had propped her onto a chair. Raoul brought her a glass of punch but Ryne waved it away, muttering something about "it's spiked". The others frowned worriedly at her and Raoul smoothed her hair out of her face gently. Alanna dropped into a crouch beside her and murmured, "What's wrong?"

Ryne looked at her with strained eyes and said "There's more than one thing." When Alanna only frowned and Jon also came down on one knee beside her Ryne refused to say much else. "Someone's here, looking for you, all of you."

"How would you know that?" Raoul asked gently from behind her.

She smiled at him and said simply "I have the Gift."

He frowned "But how can that be? No one here has the Gift! It is unheard of."

Ryne shrugged, "I just do, and I don't know my whole story yet either."

Alanna was already nodding, "Any idea who it is or if they mean us harm?"

"Friend, that's all I know." She looked up at Alanna and the latter knew there was more to the story but Ryne wasn't ready to tell her and she didn't have time to pry it out of her.

"Alright, do you know where they are?"

"Close, within the school's boundaries."

Alanna nodded and told the boys to look around half the school and go get Alan before coming back to help search. The boys left, Jon a little more reluctantly to look for their mysterious friend. Once the boys were gone Alanna and Ryne went out into the hallway and stopped there. Ryne turned to Alanna and said simply, "There's more to it."

"I know."

"Something's gone wrong at home. Your home, I mean. Something bad. My magic is different, I can manipulate things, like you but I can also sense things that are far away and seemingly unrelated to me. Anyway, I didn't want to say anything in front of the others, but Alex is against us. I also think he might have turned Ayden and Stephanie against us, we have to be ready for a fight when we try to leave, of course, Alex will pretend to be on our side, but he isn't, we mustn't forget that."

"Are you sure?" Alanna had had her suspicions before but having this information so strongly handed to her was difficult to believe.

"Yes. I don't know what he's done, but I think maybe Roger gave him something to use, he would never lend his magic to someone who might someday usurp as he has usurped many before him, but maybe something else useful. Our main priority right now is finding George."

"How did you know about Roger? And you know we're looking for George? Why didn't you say so? That means it's important!"

"Well of course it's important! That's what I've been saying all along, isn't it?" Ryne rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Alright, alright, let's go get him."

"He's in the Atrium." Ryne said with a tinge of guilt at not having told them that earlier and promptly ignored the slightly exasperated look Alanna was giving her.

They made their way to the Atrium, which was empty except for the large silhouette of a man in a black cloak. The man seemed lost.

"George?" Alanna breathed the name softly, as if caressing the name with her voice.

The man whirled about swiftly but silently and whipped his head around so fast there was an audible crack from his neck. Ryne winced. "Lass?" The word was so full of emotion and longing, Ryne had to take a step back and turn her head away slightly. When she looked back, Alanna was running into George's arms and laughing as he swooped her off her feet and twirled her around once before setting her lightly on her feet. He looked her over lovingly and smiled; he reached closer and caressed her bare shoulder, his fingers picking at the garment she wore. "This is nice, very different, I like it." He grinned roguishly and Ryne felt herself doing the same.

Alanna blushed and covered his hand with hers. "I like it too," she said with meaning.

His eyebrows lifted high and he grinned even more crookedly. Ryne remarked to herself that he was fairly good looking despite his age and a fairly large nose that looked like it had been broken a few times. _She'd do well to make him her husband._ Ryne thought, then scolded herself, _it isn't time for romanticizing now! _She made her way out of the shadow without delay and walked up to the pair. Suddenly there was a flash of silver and a flurry of movement in which George had wrapped an arm around her neck and now held a knife—or dagger rather she corrected herself—to her throat. The message was clear: This is not a joke.

Before Alanna had a chance to protest George's actions, Ryneka was also moving, she was a strong girl and she knew how to defend herself. She viciously pinched the soft flesh of his triceps and he yelped but didn't let go, thankfully his grip loosened just a trifle and that was enough for Ryne to turn a little sideways, kick out her leg and bring it barreling back into the pressure point on the outside of George's thigh. The man dropped to a knee with a muffled curse, his arm dragging Ryne down beside him and a moment of inattention caused the blade to run lightly in a diagonal line on her throat. With a sharp intake of breath of outrage at the cut, Ryne shoved her stiletto heel into George's gut in an awkward movement and grabbed his knife hand, smashing it on the ground to make him let go.

Just then Alanna found her voice and cried out "George stop! That's Ryneka, my friend."

Instantly it felt as though the life had gone out of the mass with which she was entwined. He let go of both dagger and girl, letting her extricate herself from him. She got up slowly, her left hand on her throat to staunch the blood flow and extended a hand to the now writhing silhouette of a man. He accepted her hand and she helped hoist him up to his feet, his hand grabbing the dagger swiftly and resheathing it in a sleeve almost imperceptibly.

Ryne turned to her friend, "Took you long enough!"

"Well, if you had just waited a second for me to say something maybe that wouldn't have happened."

"Well if you hadn't been flirting, maybe you would have remembered I was there and that we have something important to do."

Alanna blushed but did not back down. "I know we have important things to do! That doesn't mean I can't say hello to a good friend of mine!"

Ryne simply huffed and turned to George. "I apologize for my behavior, I should have known better than to greet instinct with instinct. My name is Ryneka, I believe you are George." She held out her hand to shake. George did so and Ryne's eyes filled with happiness. She looked at Alanna with such joy that Alanna wondered what the 'feeling' had revealed to her.

George did not really notice any of this, he simply replied to Ryne, "It's alright; I suppose I shouldn't have acted without provocation. I'm sorry." Ryne nodded idly.

"Alright, Alanna we need to hurry home so you can get changed, unless you want to go home like that?" She grinned at Alanna who shook her head vigorously. "Okay, let's go, George you can come with us or go find the boys, whichever you prefer."

"I'll come with you."

"Alright, I have to warn you, I'm driving us and I go pretty fast." Ryne said and started to walk across the Atrium towards the doors.

"Driving?" George asked in a confused way. Alanna chuckled and pulled him toward the doors in Ryneka's wake.

Twenty minutes later, they had arrived at Ryne's residence with a very dazed George and very little time to get ready. Alanna changed quickly into her "Alan" clothes and shoved everything else into a bag, Ryneka did the same with her things and Alanna did not object. Then they quickly made their way over to the flat Alanna and her friends were renting and packed every thing in sight, when Alanna tried to stuff the toaster into her bag Ryne laughed and took it away from her.

"It won't work there anyhow, you don't have electricity."

Alanna conceded and extracted the coffee maker she had stowed in her bag. George helped pack this time and they were done shortly; they put everything into the car and sped back to the school. Ryne attempted to make a cover story for 'Alanna's' disappearance.

Soon they arrived at the school and the moment they walked in, they found Raoul and Jon waiting in the Atrium. They looked up and hurried to help unpack, without even noticing George's presence. Once everything was in a sheltered corner, Jon sighed and told them, "We couldn't find the 'friend' anywhere; we didn't see anyone we knew from home."

George cleared his throat and said, "What am I? Hogwash?" But he other two didn't seem to hear.

"We looked everywhere" Raoul confirmed. "We even had Gary help us, nothing."

Alanna was frowning deeply, "Well, of course you didn't find him, he's right here, w—Ryne and Alanna found him a while ago then they came to get me."

Ryne grinned and mouthed "Nice save" to Alanna, who grinned back.

"Who?" Jon asked and looked around, apparently staring right around George.

"Where?" Raoul asked and imitated Jon.

"Right here!" cried George loudly, waving his arms.

"Shh!" Alanna and Ryne both hissed.

"What? We aren't being loud!" Jon protested and Raoul nodded his agreement. Meanwhile George gave a half laugh at his situation.

Jon looked closely at Ryne and Alanna who were frowning at George and followed their eyes. He could not seem to find what they were looking at. "There's nothing there." Before the girls could protest, he asked, "Who is it?"

"George," they replied.

"But where?" Both he and Raoul asked incredulously.

Ryne's frown of puzzlement had transformed into one of curiosity. "Wait a moment, please." She took a deep breath and did a quick breathing exercise she had learned from her saxophone teacher and then concentrated. "Can you see him?"

All three of them moved their gazes from her to where George was standing and exclaimed hushed cries of surprise. "What happened?" Jon asked.

"Sorry I think that was my fault, I didn't want anyone to see him, so I made him a shield sort of thing that diverts people's attention from him; he also blends in with the background so you can't see him even if you're determined to." Ryne blushed a little.

"That's fantastic!" Jon cried. "Wait until I tell Father and Mother!"

"Actually," George cut in, "that's why I'm here. You're mother is sick again. It's time you all came home." The last sentence he said, looking directly at Alanna, who was too busy worrying about the Queen to notice.

"Sick? How sick? What's happened?"

"I'm not rightly sure, but you have to come home." Jon nodded and looked at Alanna. She nodded. How to do this?

"Raoul go get Gary and Alex, we're leaving." Raoul nodded and was off. "You two, could you get me something comfortable to sit on?" Jon and George went off in search of what she asked.

Ryne moved closer and asked, "Is there anyway we can leave Alex behind? He'll only be a problem later for you."

Alanna shook her head sadly, "Jon would never allow it, and I can't exactly tell him my suspicions. I tried once, you know, but he got mad and told me he never wanted to hear me say anything about it ever again."

Ryne nodded "Alright, the good news is, I don't think we'll be getting any trouble from Ayden and Steph as I had suspected, they won't have time to o anything that isn't too suspicious." Her eyes clouded s she spoke of Ayden.

Alanna smoothed down her hair and said, "I think you'll find someone else. At home." She smiled warmly at Ryne.

"Thanks."

Alanna nodded and looked away as the men came back in different groups. Alex walked quickly toward them. "We're leaving? What about our things?" Both girls gestured to the pile of bags in the corner.

"Don't worry, your stuff was all packed already we didn't touch anything." Ryne assured with a layer of frost in her voice. The look on his face made Alanna wish they had thought to look through his things before rushing back to the school.

Jon walked over, carrying a cushioned seat before him like an offering to a Goddess and Alanna seated herself on it. "Everyone stand back, it should be in the wall there, just like before." The others nodded and did as they were told. Ryne move up to stand right behind and to the right of Alanna and gestured to Jon to do the same, he did and they each put a hand on Alanna's shoulders. Soon all three figures glowed brightly, Alanna bright amethyst and the other two identical shades of cerulean blue. Two small figures slinked across the floor to sit by their master's heels and waited. Within seconds, without really knowing how it happened, a large black expanse had partially covered the wall Alanna had indicated earlier. All three mages seemed to snap out of it a little drained but none the worse for wear. Everyone silently took their respective bags, George who had none, took Alanna's because she was still a little shaky from the magic she had performed.

Jon and Alanna proceeded to go through first, then Gary and Raoul, just as before, when George made to go through next, Ryne held his arm covertly and motioned for Alex to precede them. Once he had, Ryne sighed, had one last look at her former home and walked to the black expanse, arm in arm with George; they both took deep breaths and walked into it.

(A/N: Alright that's it, thanks again to those who pushed me to keep writing, I hope to update again soon. I have to warn all of you, I don't think I'm going to do all the things I was planning on in the first place. Like I was going to follow the line of the books as much as possible with my own twists but I've sort of gotten over the A/J pairing so this might be more about how A/G copes with the age difference and sneaking out to see each other and stuff. Let me know what you think. Is that the last of Ayden or not? We'll find out later! (I sound like a retarded kids show, I know, sigh I'm such a loser, lol) ok, talk to you all later, review please! I really appreciate it.)


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